Retailers need the free parking this Christmas, say councillors

There will be six days of free parking in Mullingar's public car parks in the run up to Christmas after councillors rejected a proposal to carry over half of the days to the new year for a new retail campaign.

Council official Pat Keating told the members at the November meeting that during recent discussions with Mullingar Chamber, it was proposed that three of the six days of free parking allocated each year for the weeks leading up to Christmas be carried over into the new year “to align with a specifically targeted retail campaign”.

The council’s director of services Martin Murray added that the council had successfully applied for €40,000 funding under a Covid-19 related expansion of the Town and Village Renewal Scheme and that €15,000 has been set aside for a “specifically tailored social media campaign” early in 2021.

The chamber had proposed that three of the free parking days be saved for a “more targeted plan in the spring that might be of more benefit to the retail and business sector of the town”, he said.

While they voiced support for the chamber and the work that it is doing, the members said that they were not in favour of cutting the number of free parking days in December.

Cllr Andrew Duncan said he was not sure that a reduction in the number of days in the run-up to Christmas is what retailers want.

The proposal to carry over some of the days has “merit in a normal year, but this isn't a normal year”, he said. He added that a number of local businesses have been hit very hard by the Covid-19 pandemic and are “on the brink”.

Taking away half of the free parking days for Christmas shoppers made him “nervous”, he said.

Cllr Ken Glynn said that he has worked in retail for the best part of 30 years and that December is always important, but even more so this year. For that reason, he couldn't support the reduction in the number of free parking days in Mullingar next month.

“I fully respect what the chamber is trying to do but this is a critical month for so many retailers. Once shops are reopened, people who want to shop local are going to flock in.”

The Fianna Fáil man added that shopping online takes jobs from local shop floors and everything needs to be done to encourage people into Mullingar in the coming weeks.

Cllr Aoife Davitt voiced her support for the retention of the six days in December noting that many local retailers have been “really pushed to the pins of their collars” in recent months.

Cllr Denis Leonard said that the local authority needs to be offering people incentives to go into their towns. He said that small businesses such an independent retailers employ more people than any other sector and the council should be “doing everything possible to support them”.

The councillors agreed to retain the six free parking days in December but would confirm the dates after consulting with the chamber.