A proposal to grant parking permits to businesses would prove a disaster for trade in County Galway towns, it was claimed this week.

Councillor Shane Curley proposed giving a limited number of parking permits to business owners in towns and villages where paid parking exists at this month’s Loughrea Municipal District meeting.

He said business owners provide employment, pay commercial rates as well as taxes and deserved a break.

Galway County Council said it was against the proposal as it would mean less parking availability for customers spending money – and less money for the Council due to the impact on parking fees.

It would also have an impact on active travel as it may discourage people from walking or cycling to town centres if they could avail of free parking.

Cllr Joe Byrne (FG) said he was opposed to the move as one of the biggest complaints when the Council brought in free parking in December to encourage Christmas shoppers was that workers were taking parking prime spaces all day.

That was the reason that proposal change to make parking free from 11am so that commuters would park elsewhere.

Cllr Jimmy McClearn said Roscommon town had free parking and it was now very difficult to get parking on the town’s main street.

He told the meeting that it was an example of a well-intentioned proposal having unforeseen consequences.

“Do you make free parking available to all people who work in a shop? Do you have it at a particular location? If you did it, you have to not do it on the main street.”

Cllr Michael ‘Moegie’ Maher said the proposal would “absolutely choke our town”, which was one of the locations in the county currently thriving.

“There are car spaces in Loughrea – there are car parks in Barrack Street, Corry’s, businesses were against free parking before as they couldn’t get customers in.”

Engineer Gerard Haugh said there was a proposal to create another car park on the southern side of the town.

Parking fees were subject to bylaws and could not be adjusted at municipal district level, Cllr Byrne pointed out. Cllr Curley said he would submit the proposal to a full meeting of Galway County Council.

In relation to a second proposal by Cllr Curley to erect trial speed bumps at three locations in the town frequented by hundreds of school children, Mr Haugh said there was no funding available for temporary measures in advance of a traffic management plan currently being created for Loughrea.

No other councillor supported the motion.