From the Galway City Tribune – Charges are to be introduced at Leisureland in Salthill to address what has been described as ‘parking chaos’ at the facility.

New barriers were installed at the venue in recent weeks and it has been confirmed to the Galway City Tribune that charges are to be implemented in late September or early October.

While management say the charges for parking are being introduced in order to cover the €95,000 cost of the new equipment, regular customers at Leisureland will not be left out of pocket.

Manager Ian Brennan said this week that members of their swim academy and gym members would not have to pay for parking, while ‘one-off’ users would be able to have their tickets validated for free at the front desk.

“We’re still working through the technicalities of it as we speak but we had to do something, because we had no control over the parking.

“Even last weekend, people were left blocked in; we have people parking on the grass and parking illegally in disability parking spaces,” said Mr Brennan.

The problem was particularly acute on days with good weather during the summer and when events are taking place in Salthill, such as matches at Pearse Stadium.

Charges are to be set at €2 per hour, or €12 per day and while they won’t apply to those using the pool and gym, people attending gigs in the Leisureland performance space will have to pay.

“For those, the cars will only be parked for a couple of hours and this will keep the car parking spaces for people actually attending the events. We’ve had several events where there was nowhere available for people to park.

“People will be able to park here and know it’s safe for a couple of hours and there is already free parking available on the Prom or elsewhere in Salthill,” said Mr Brennan.

He said the charges were being introduced purely to control of the car park and were not an income-generating measure.

“We have to take control. Originally, we put in height barriers to stop larger vehicles but up to this point, we have had no other control,” added Mr Brennan.

He said they hadn’t forecasted to make much money on parking in the coming years and instead, the income would be used to pay the €95,000 bill which included the barriers, validation machines and the addition of four electric vehicle charge-points in the car park.

“If there is any income, and we project very little, it will go towards upgrading the car park with new tarmac and additional electric car charging points,” said Mr Brennan.

There are currently 142 parking spaces and the Leisureland manager said that included the area directly outside the door which they intended to keep free of charge. He said it was also their intention to increase the number of disability parking bays in that area.

Additional bicycle parking racks had recently been installed, he added.

These changes had been brought about following numerous complaints from customers at Leisureland who were unable to find parking when attending for swimming lessons or to use the gym.

The move is also tied into Leisureland’s commitment to cut its carbon emissions by 50% by 2030, for which a series of changes had already been introduced.

“That is one of our major aims at the moment and as part of that, we are looking at the overall site to see how we can cut back on carbon usage,” said Mr Brennan.

This article first appeared in the print edition of the Galway City Tribune, August 26, 2022. You can support our journalism by subscribing to the Galway City Tribune HERE. The print edition is in shops every Friday.