Following a period of consultation between Mayo County Council, elected members, local businesses and residents, the implementation of new parking plans will be rolled out in Westport over the early days of April.
The new parking arrangements in Westport are 'being implemented to ensure a greater turnover of parking spaces in the town, particularly the town centre, allowing more people to access parking at all times of the day' according to the council.
Catherine McConnell, Director of Services with Mayo County Council, added: “The introduction of these new parking plans along with other traffic management measures introduced recently will offer solutions to traffic congestion and lack of turnover of prime parking spaces in Westport, while also staying consistent with the town’s overall Smarter Travel strategy. The heritage status of the town, together with its consistently high achievement in Tidy Towns, were key influences in the selection of the methodology to manage and regulate on street parking.”
The council outlined the new parking arrangements as follows:
How will it work
There will be no pay & display machines in Westport town centre, instead drivers will be asked to purchase a ‘scratch & display’ parking disc from participating businesses and place it on the dashboard of the car.
The new measures will designate two separate zones, blue and pink, with different rates applying to each.
The Pink Zone is the town core. Parking in this zone is free for the first hour with a charge of €1 applying to the second hour, for which the pink parking disc is required. A maximum stay of 2 hours applies at these locations – anyone anticipating a stay longer than 1 hour should display a disc.
The Blue Zone will cover the remainder of the town streets and the Quay area where a charge of 60 cent per hour applies. There is no free parking period at these locations but also, there is no restriction on length of stay in the blue zone. An all-day rate of €3 applies with a yellow coloured disc in this zone.
Charges apply from Monday to Saturday from 8.30am to 6.30pm.
A list of participating businesses will be available on the Mayo County Council website. Discs will also be available for purchase in bulk at Westport Civic Offices.
The Council will also be rolling out a cashless parking solution in the coming weeks – the Mayo e-parking app will allow motorists to pay for parking using an app on their smartphone.
I live in Westport, how will this affect me?
Residents of the pink or blue zones in the town should apply for their parking permit which is free of charge. This also includes a flexible-use visitors pass.
Certain housing developments in the town have been designated as ‘residents only’ and residents are advised to apply for permits as soon as possible. The areas designated are as follows:
Grove Park, Chestnut Grove, Tobair Hill (Bealach an Tobair, Clós an Tobair, Radharc an Tobair, Slí an Tobair & Cúirt an Tobair ), The Elms, Radharc na Greine, Distillery Court, The Paddock, Ozanam Place, Horkan’s Hill and Fr Angelus Park.
Application forms are available on Mayo County Councils website or by emailing [email protected].
I work in Westport, how much will I pay per day?
Demand has been strong for business permits which are available for locations throughout the town at varying rates. Businesses or employees in the town centre are encouraged to contact the Council offices at Altamont Street to enquire about applying for permit.
At the lower end of the scale, Blue Zone annual permits work out at just over 69 cent per day to park.
In addition to the Blue Zone permits there will also be permits available for the town carparks.
Permits for the James Street and Mill Street car parks work out at €1 per day and those using the High Street car park work out at 82 cent per day.
Monthly or three monthly permits are also available and annual Permits will also qualify for tax relief.
James Street Car Park is free up to 11am each day.
Ticket machines remain in operation in the Car Parks – the parking app will also cover car parks when introduced.
A greater number of bus bays, short term parking spaces and loading bays at revised locations around the town should also improve previous arrangements for businesses and visiting tourist buses.
It is acknowledged that it will take a number of weeks for residents and motorists to familiarise themselves with the new arrangements. Any queries or genuine cases will be considered.
Further details on how to use the new ‘Scratch & Display’ discs will be available on www.Mayo.ie as well as on social media @mayodotie; @mayococo and Westport Smarter Travel Facebook page in the coming days.
