Parking charges for out-of-town centres

Sir, – Senator Paul Coghlan (Home News, December 16th) is publishing a Bill obliging out-of-town retailers to charge for parking. The stated objective of this Bill is to level the playing pitch between town retailers and out-of-town centres.

The likely consequence of this Bill is a reduction in overall economic activity rather than the hoped for redirection of footfall to urban and town areas. Lessons should have been learnt from the demise of areas such as Dún Laoghaire where parking restrictions and charges resulted in the closure of businesses and subsequent job losses.

This Bill will also turn out-of-town centres into ghost estates and result in job losses. Senator Coghlan fails to recognise the fact that it is often free parking that attracts customers to spend time in any retail centre and spend money on impulse purchases and leisure activities such as cinemas and restaurants.

The solution is to introduce a fair and reasonable parking system in all retail areas to increase footfall rather than to introduce further punitive charges that encourage potential customers to stay at home.

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Mr Coghlan fails to recognise that out-of-town centres employ a large number of staff who could lose their jobs if footfall declined. He also fails to recognise that many elderly, lonely or cash-strapped people visit large retail centres to pass the time in a warm and convivial environment where they can socialise for free or the price of a cup of tea. This Bill is nothing but another resource-gathering tax by another name. It will cost the economy more than it benefits it. – Yours, etc,

BA KEOGH,

Stonepark Abbey,

Rathfarnham, Dublin 14.