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Unread 18-10-2007, 19:05   #1
John J
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Angry Parking wars in Maynooth.

I'm sure P11 personnel are aware of the ongoing issue regarding shortage of parking spaces at Maynooth train station. The car park provides 150 spaces at a rough estimate and is full by 7.15am each morning.
The overflow ends up in a housing estate near to the station - this being the only area with free parking within a reasonable walking distance.

I have been forced to park in that particular estate 6 out of the 9 last days, having attempted to find space in the IE car park to no avail.
After a particularly bad day at work today I arrived back to my car to provide two pages of rather threatening literature under my wiper blade (text reproduced in full below).
This was also placed on several other cars.

This leaves me in quite a quandary.
I live a considerable distance from the train station and work demands force me to drive to Maynooth every day due to IE's failure to provide decent service levels beyond Maynooth.
Niether walking or cycling are particularly feasible.

There doesn't seem to be any work underway to provide extra capacity at Maynooth station.
Are P11 aware of any such work being planned?
What do you suggest I and other commuters do in the meantime?
Will IE be prepared to pay fines I may incur as a result of not being able to park when I wish to use their services, despite paying for an annual ticket?

I cannot afford to rent a parking space as train fares, petrol and tolls already cost me upwards of €100 a week.

I understand the views of the residents of that particular housing estate and have sympathy for them. However can they not also have some understanding for the catch-22 situation that Maynooth commuters are in?

The hugely positive effect that the train station has on rental and sale values is perhaps not fully appreciated - but that's another story.

It's a bit of a joke that on the one hand the authorities are actively encouraging public transport and on the other, the garda siochana, a government body, are persecuting those attempting to use it?

Any thoughts?

Quote:
PAGE 1
======
NO PARKING
PRIVATE ESTATE
Details of Cars fined by gardai recently
02 DL 5177 GARDA PARKING FINE
00 LD 1643 GARDA PARKING FINE
95 KE 3719 GARDA PARKING FINE
96 MH 2486 GARDA PARKING FINE
05 D 727 GARDA PARKING FINE
00 D 18024 GARDA PARKING FINE
98 D 6668 GARDA PARKING FINE
01 TS 2664 GARDA PARKING FINE
Further parking could result in clamping/towing and or garda fine.
YOUR CAR NUMBER HAS BEEN NOTED

PAGE 2
======
YOU MAY NOT BE AWARE THAT THE HOUSE DIRECTLY OPPOSITE THIS PARKING SPACE IS A RESIDENTIAL HOME FOR MILDLY HANDI-CAPPED PEOPLE. THIS SPACE IS FREQUENTLY REQUIRED FOR THEIR BUS/AMBULANCE TO BE TURNED. SPACE ALSO REQUIRED FOR STAFF AND DOCTOR.
CARS HAVE BEEN REMOVED BY THE POLICE.
THEY DO HAVE VISITORS AS DO THE REST OF THE RESIDENTS - BUT YOU HAVE LEFT THEM NO SPACE TO PARK. WE HAVE 14/18 CARS IN THIS CUL-DE-SAC OF OUR OWN. PEOPLE ON SHIFT WORK ETC. they come off irregular shifts and find there is nowhere for them to park.
We are not an extension of the railway car park.
YOUR NUMBER HAS BEEN NOTED. PLEASE DO NOT PARK IN THIS PRIVATE ESTATE AGAIN.
NOTE
* There is no signage indicating a residential home in the area - if I were aware of such, I would most certainly not park nearby.
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Unread 18-10-2007, 21:00   #2
Mark Gleeson
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The Maynooth car park is boxed in by the canal and local houses making any extension difficult. Its a double edged sword if it was extended (and we are aware of no plans for Maynooth) it would result in the €2/€5 charge

Let us be very clear here, providing ever bigger car parks is unsustainable, its going to be like the Itchy Lot gag out of the Simpsons, vast car park which takes an age to get out of in the evening.

The solution is proper integrated local area transport, people drive to the station since they have no other option. This is all but too common a problem, Rush and Lusk, Newbridge and so on, a well thought out local bus connecting the town, major housing estates, railway station and other local amenities would go a long way to solve the problem and provide many other benefits to the local area in general, its done elsewhere in Europe but not here.

If you park legally you have nothing to fear from the nosey neighbour types, if they have legitimate need for a space they can apply through the local county council for a space to be marked out. If you block access, park as to cause a hazard etc well you have only yourself to blame
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Unread 18-10-2007, 22:19   #3
Derek Wheeler
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Hi John

Excuse Marks rather harsh ending to his response. A lot of what he said in terms if integrated local transport is currently the thinking of the RUI committee. I have personally spent many months examining the car parking situation and seeking a national solution rather than individual solution. I assume from your post that you live along the rail line but not in an area that has early morning services to suit you. Therefore you are caught in the middle. Maynooth car park is indeed boxed in by the canal. There are currently plans to develop that area even further in terms of an amenity facility. It looks pretty certain that IE cannot develop better car parking facilities.

I don't know where you live so I cannot say if my local transport solution would work for you. But. If the car drivers from the immediate area that use maynooth carpark were provided with realistic local transport alternatives then obviously the car park is freed up for users from more remote or lightly served areas that can't justify local transport or rail services.

Finally John. Remember this one. I am a great advocate of localised public transport that serves rail stations and housing areas. Transport that helps rail commuters and takes cars off local roads at all times of the day. So far I have met with inertia, excuses and disinterest from local councillors and politicians. However a senior government minister is contemplating the provision of late night bus services to get people home from the pub. Bare that in mind if you write to your local representatives, particularly the FF ones.
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Unread 18-10-2007, 22:31   #4
Mark Hennessy
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John as a Maynooth resident, my plan for a car park on part of the Harbour field was taken up by Aine Brady in her manifesto.

Perhaps we should badger her to see how progress is coming.
I really feel there is room there for a multi story facility but of course it would eb pay parking.

There are folks driving from all over North Kildare to access the station.
As an interim measure would Louisa bridge car park be any use to you?
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Unread 18-10-2007, 23:16   #5
PaulM
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I was a student in Maynooth no so long ago. I started in 2000 and graduated in 2004. The difference Maynooth underwent in that time is phenomenal. It barely resembles the place it was when I started there.

The reason I mention this is becuase like most places around Dublin these days. Massive planning permission was granted for develpment yet there was nothing done to facilitate people living in the area.

The train line is most likely a major selling point for developers, from what I recall there are approximately 40 (if that) spaces on a very narrow stretch of land. Sadly the only advice I can really give is to write to local politicians. Is it an option to park somewhere further away, shopping centres perhaps?

Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark Hennessy
my plan for a car park on part of the Harbour field was taken up by Aine Brady in her manifesto.
What about the fair in June? Where are the local kids going to go to get drunk? That's very selfish of you Mark.
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Unread 19-10-2007, 06:20   #6
sean
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How about extending the Maynooth line about 5 miles West and building a massive M4 Park n Ride there? That would sort out the problems and likely be cheaper than trying to squeeze more parking spaces into Maynooth.

The OP is from Longford as per the location in his profile. And yes, the Longford service is kinda rubbish IMO and I don't envy anyone who has to use it, certainly I would wonder why so many (enough to justify a train service) actually do that commute ...
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Unread 19-10-2007, 08:22   #7
PaulM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by sean View Post
I would wonder why so many (enough to justify a train service) actually do that commute ...
Cheap housing.
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Unread 19-10-2007, 12:52   #8
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Short answer :

Residents DO NOT own the space on the road outside their front door. The council do.

If they wanted it residents/controlled parking, I'm sure they could do so on application to the council . A similar approach applies all across the rest of Dublin

Anyone touches the car, call the cops.

You must park legally though, i.e. not block ingress/egress etc.
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Unread 19-10-2007, 13:55   #9
shweeney
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Quote:
Originally Posted by CSL View Post
Short answer :

Residents DO NOT own the space on the road outside their front door. The council do.
unless it is (as the note claims) a private estate.
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Unread 19-10-2007, 15:11   #10
PaulM
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Quote:
Originally Posted by shweeney View Post
unless it is (as the note claims) a private estate.
Is there such a thing? On the road I used to work on there was some old bag who used to give out to people about parking there. According to her it was a private road.
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Unread 19-10-2007, 15:23   #11
markpb
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Quote:
Originally Posted by PaulM View Post
Is there such a thing? On the road I used to work on there was some old bag who used to give out to people about parking there. According to her it was a private road.
Almost all gated estates and some non-gated but privately-managed estates are considered private property.
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Unread 19-10-2007, 15:24   #12
CSL
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Sorry my mistake.

A: Then how can the coppers fine them since they aren't breaking the law ?

"Private" estates tend to be gated in any event.

An example [ to me ] would be UCD - private college roads. Do the council/coppers police parking ? No. A hired crowd of clampers do.

One or the other, can't be both.
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Unread 19-10-2007, 19:31   #13
philip
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Indeed, if it's private the Gardai have no authority to issue tickets for illegal parking, BUT if it's private it's up to the owner to sign it as such. They can't just clamp your car without warning as it's a public place, even if it's not a public highway-just like a supermarket carpark-they must erect signage to warn of any clamping in force.

If it's a public highway then you can park on it (obeying all taffic rules and signs in force of course).
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Unread 20-10-2007, 11:58   #14
James Shields
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In most cases developers and management companies don't want to be left responsible for looking after the roads in their estate, so they sign them over to the local council. There are exceptions, but they generally fall into the gated community category.

There is no right to parking in front of your house, so unless there are parking restrictions in operation, anyone can park there. You'll often see "resident parking only" signs, but they have no legal meaning.

About the only way to impose any restriction is to make the area pay parking and issue (i.e. sell) resident parking permits.
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Unread 20-10-2007, 22:02   #15
John J
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Cheers guys.
There is a sign up saying "private estate" so maybe I am screwed.

Unfortunately people are going to have to park somewhere... if they're forced out of that particular area they're just going to have to find somewhere else!

Regarding paid parking, I would have no problem paying a small fee for a good, accessible multi-storey carpark... but I do think the rates being charged at places like Leixlip Louisa are taking the mick to some extent.
€5 a week... or €260 a year!
You're already paying €845 for the annual ticket.
A discounted rate for annual ticket holders would make it a lot easier to swallow.

How do you go about buying the parking tickets for Leixlip... are there any concessions for people with annual tickets??

PS.S If anyone knows of any good "car friendly" places around Maynooth within sensible distance of the station, by all means feel free to spill the beans!
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Unread 21-10-2007, 14:00   #16
Mark Gleeson
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Unlike the Luas Irish Rail do not offer integrated tickets which include parking

They have been asked to but the usual inaudible mumble followed
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Unread 21-10-2007, 22:22   #17
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ring the council re if it's a private road or not [ get through to the roads dept ] , if the council maintain it then you can park there.

for the cost of a phone call can't hurt compared to the benefit.
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Unread 22-10-2007, 21:15   #18
Colm Donoghue
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John, if the residents are threatening the law on you, I'd go to Maynooth garda station and ask if the road is private and mention you had parked legally but you were worried in case it got escalated and your car got damaged.
this way you'll know a) if it's a private estate b) if you have a run in with a resident in the future you'll have some backup; obviously don't confront anybody in a way that would make the situation worse.

If it's a public road, any parking fine is small ( was EUR19) and you'll be able to drive away immediately if you are caught. Also if it's a public road the residents have no more right to park there than you under normal circumstances. If the residents have bought more cars than room it just shows more symptoms of the poor planning we do in Ireland.

Also following on from Derek's pessimism about transport and politico's, the biggest issue to affect the minister for transport, including calls for him to resign because a privately owned airline will only fly from co clare to one airport in london, while it's main shareholder flys to two other ones.....

also a railway line between Athenry and Ennis is being built before any Dublin improvements...

lastly on a positive note, you could try touring around maynooth to find some parking further away - you're coming a distance anyway an extra quarter mile of a walk isn't going to break the bank completely. how far is your walk at the city end? most people wouldn't think up to 20 mins as overly excesive, if it's not too far for you, you could try and see how it goes. That said, I don't know anything about maynooth so this may be completely useless advice.

The fact the note used the word police seems a bit odd - It would definitely lead me to brazen it out and park legally until something happened but thats my particular imp of the perverse.
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Unread 23-10-2007, 21:35   #19
Thomas Ralph
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I agree with Colm on that. A regular parking fine is €40 now (and it's sent in the post so you could conceivably get quite a few if you didn't know you were parked illegally on consecutive days). However, residents, while they may not want you to park somewhere, don't generally have a right to stop you. Only when you see warning notices about clamping going up, or statutory no parking or pay/display (etc.) signs, would you have something to worry about.
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Unread 30-10-2007, 20:32   #20
andyl222
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I have a solution to this issue, about 200 yards from the train station is the local Super-Valu with a huge car park, big enough for over a hundred cars. Surely people could use this car-park and refrain from blocking necessary through-ways in and around the residential estates of maynooth.
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