‘Really frustrating’ - No free parking for Waterford motorists amid persisting app issues
The issue was raised by Cllr Kate O’Mahoney at the June meeting of the Dungarvan-Lismore Municipal District
Motorists are unable to avail of free parking in a town in County Waterford due to persisting issues with the eParking app, a council meeting has heard.
The issue was raised by Sinn Féin councillor Kate O’Mahoney at the June meeting of the Dungarvan-Lismore Municipal District.
Cllr O’Mahoney said: “I’m just conscious that both Dungarvan and Abbeyside are getting much, much busier with the summer and tourist season starting.
“It’s just really frustrating that we’re in June now and the free 30 minutes on the parking app still hasn’t been resolved.
“ A number of meetings have taken place with the app developer. Can we have a concrete update on this feature being reinstated?
“It’s just really, really frustrating for users not being able to avail of the free period for Dungarvan and Abbeyside as well.”
In response, Maria Goff, Senior Executive Engineer at Waterford City and Council, outlined the timeline for the resolving of the issues with the parking app.
Ms Goff said: “Just with regard to the parking app, we received an update this morning with regards to that.
“The parking app is provided by PayZone and the delivery timeline for this resolving is mid-August.
“The traffic management section is working closely with the developer to resolve the matter.”
Later in the meeting, Fine Gael councillor Damien Geoghegan expressed his frustration over how long the issues with the app have persisted.
Cllr Geoghegan said: “Just in relation to the parking app, the communication we received this morning.
“I mean this has been going on now for quite a number of months and now we were told this morning that it might be mid-August before it’s resolved.
“I’m at a loss really to see how it should take so long to resolve the issue of allowing people to avail of 30 minutes free parking on the parking app.
“I just think another two months from now isn’t really acceptable but that’s the answer we’ve gotten I suppose.”
In response to Cllr Geoghegan, Executive Engineer Seán Gormley said he understood his disappointment.
The existing parking bye-laws allow for one free parking session per vehicle, per day in Dungarvan.
While parking meters correctly enforce this rule using vehicle registration numbers, the online parking app is currently unable to limit users to a single free session per day.
As a result, the free parking option has been removed from the app since March.