'We need to get control of it': Council officials to review campervan parking in Cobh

Council officials have agreed to review campervan/motorhome parking in Cobh following claims by a number of councillors that the local authority is losing “a small fortune” as many of these vehicles using the first municipal-run facility of its type in the county are dodging paying.

Meanwhile, suggestions have been made that tour buses picking up cruise liner passengers should start paying a small fee for passing through the car park area as they’re profiting out of it.

Councillors have asked that a pay barrier be installed at the ‘Five Foot Way’ facility. 

They maintain while installing it might be expensive it will pay for itself quite quickly. 

The Cobh Municipal District Council made more than €55,000 from the facility last year.

However, it’s been alleged that a lot of the vehicle users are not paying at the machines and especially getting away with it at peak times because there’s no traffic warden on duty after 5pm on the Saturday and never on a Sunday.

Fine Gael councillor Sinéad Sheppard said she went down there on one recent weekend and counted a number of them which weren’t displaying tickets on their windscreens.

She added that some owners had covered the nearby playground and outdoor fitness area with their washing, which was completely unacceptable.

Ms Sheppard said there were so many vehicles they basically overtook the whole of the adjacent free car parking areas.

“We should be taking in double the money that we’re getting. If we’re running that place as a business, we need to police it. 

“We should have a proper barrier system and pay for it. In the long term, we need to get control of it,” Ms Sheppard said.

She said the council could use some of the Local Property Tax (LPT) it gets to finance the project as such an investment “would guarantee a return on the money”. She added that residents in Whitepoint were “being tormented” by the campervans parking outside their homes.

Municipal officer Páraig Lynch said to justify installing a barrier and having it monitored in case of it breaking down, the council would need to be taking in at least €65,000 annually.

Independent Ireland councillor Ger Curley said a local businessman had introduced a monitored barrier payment system at his car park and is making more money since he installed it.

Noreen Brennan, the senior council official for the area, said she’d take on board the councillors’ suggestions, review the situation, and report back to them.