'I would be flabbergasted if they can’t see this is wrong'
Letterkenny business owners submitted petitions and letters to the Donegal County Council against the proposed hike in parking charges on Main Street
A number of Letterkenny business owners have submitted a large number of petitions opposing an increased charge for parking in the town centre.
The proposal, if passed, would see an increase in parking to €2.50 per hour as part of a by-laws change.
A total of 137 businesses submitted letters opposing the proposal, and the petition gathered 4,500 signatures in support, urging the council to maintain the current parking costs of €1 per hour.
The petitions and letters were submitted to the Letterkenny Public Service Centre, ahead of the public consultation closure on Monday, October 19, when submissions will be considered before a final decision is made.
It is expected a final decision will be made and announced to the public in the weeks following.
Leonard Watson, owner of Watson Menswear on Letterkenny’s Main Street, said the feeling towards the price hike is unanimous among local business owners.
“There is anger,” he told DonegalLive. “To even consider putting parking charges up to €2.50 on the main street when you’ve got other retail parks and shopping centres in the town with free parking, you’re just driving customers from the street.
“Main streets all over the country are suffering. You have some of the oldest businesses in the town on Main Street, and that should be something to celebrate and protect, and for the council to put this out to consultation even, we just think it's wrong.”
Mr. Watson said that he believes the council should do more to bring consumers back onto Main Street as other towns in the country are allowing free parking up to one hour.
“We’re asking the council now to back the street,” he said. “Show that they want to save the street and that we have a street to be proud of for the next ten or fifteen years.
“Your local barber here who is maybe charging fifteen or sixteen euros for a haircut, and you're not getting your haircut in less than an hour, so that haircut goes to eighteen euros. People are going to go elsewhere, and that’s the problem with this €2.50.”
Car parking fees on the main street increasing to €2.50 will make Letterkenny the most expensive town to park in Donegal.
“It’s not about taking up car spaces,” Mr. Watson said. “We want our customers to feel welcome, or they don’t feel their half hour is nearly up. A cup of coffee is €2.50 to someone.
“They know how tough the business is on Main Street, down to traffic and other things. If they can’t read the room, I would be shocked. If they didn’t back us on this, I would be absolutely shocked; I would be flabbergasted if they can’t see this is wrong.”