“Why not have the free parking from 12-4, peak shopping times, it means that workers still have to use car parks. Or turn the old mart car park into a Fermoy town employee car park and give special rates! It most certainly can be done, people just need to think outside the box.” So said one Avondhu reader in response to our story last week in which Cllr Michael Hanley said the free parking in the town’s car parks was being ‘hijacked’ by people working in the town to the detriment of shoppers that the initiative was primarily aimed at.

Among the comments on The Avondhu’s website and Facebook pages another reader remarked: “And then they wonder why nobody shops in the town. Listen people. If you want Fermoy and local businesses to thrive then they need to scrap the parking charges. (Get) employed people in shops to park in, say, the mart area and display a tag to ensure they don’t abuse the free parking. If they do, fine them or clamp them. That’s the deterrent.”

Cllr Noel McCarthy, who also serves as chairman of Fermoy Business Action Group, got a lot of feedback during the week on Cllr Hanley’s remarks.  “I understand where they are coming from. I have a certain amount of sympathy for them. Everyone is trying to make savings,” he pointed out. That said, he appealed to workers to park as far back in the car parks as possible and leave the spaces closest to the street for shoppers.

He pointed out too that most workers in the town also shop, have lunch and do business in Fermoy and so can be considered customers. It was a difficult call, he said, as he didn’t want to criticise anyone trying to save money in these difficult times.

“Before this, workers were parking out from the town in residential areas, sometimes blocking access, to try to avoid parking charges. It shows that there is a need for affordable parking for people who work in the town. It’s something we need to look at,” he said.