Parking meters erected in Tesco Carpark

orbital83

The time is almost upon us... the last bastion of free parking in Longford Town Centre will soon be no more.

It's the end of an era for me.
I almost shed a tear when I thought of all those evenings I sat there in my beloved Hyundai Accent, watching the world going by, with a can of Tesco Kick in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Evenings that soon will be a thing of the past.

I've munched Luigis, nearly been crashed into, nearly crashed into people.
And I loved every blissful, parking-ticket-free moment.
Dammit, I was even asked on a date in that carpark one evening

Anyway - enough of my waffle.
Are we going to lie down like dogs and accept this insult, or vote with our feet?
Violence probably isn't the answer, although it's the first thought that sprung to mind I admit

What are the best other places in the town to park? I have a feeling the residents of Deanscurragh, Templemichael Terrace and Annaly Park will seeing a lot more cars outside their houses if this goes ahead!

Occidental

John J wrote: »

It's the end of an era for me.
I almost shed a tear when I thought of all those evenings I sat there in my beloved Hyundai Accent, watching the world going by, with a can of Tesco Kick in one hand and the newspaper in the other. Evenings that soon will be a thing of the past.

Reminds me of half nine last Saturday morning, with four lads in an Astra outside Tesco's sculling cans of Miller.

I normally use the Aldi car park if I'm not going to be carrying a load of stuff. Is the parking controlled by Tesco or the County Council.

orbital83

Nah, drinking (alcohol) and driving is a pet hate of mine. And as for Astras...

It's council controlled, there was a long running battle with Tesco but it seems they've got their way.
Sales will be affected in the centre - I wouldn't like to be running a shop in there! A lot more will be heading to Lidl / Aldi / Dunnes now

Occidental

Was there not talk of knocking the whole lot and building a new centre there, or is that just wishful thinking.

Do you know if they're charging for everyone, or if they're going to organise free parking for people shopping in Tescos.

orbital83

Don't think they could organise free parking for those shopping in Tesco... it's just a standard council car park, the meters only accept money - no option to use tickets, tokens etc issued by the supermarket.
I can't see Tesco handing out free euros to shoppers...

I do know demolition notice has been issued some months back for houses immediately behind Tesco on Water Street... not sure if this is related.

They could always move up to the new shopping centre by the cinema, rumour has it there is no anchor tenant

Given the state of the roads in Longford town particularly in Grand Canyon st where providers resides.
The council have some cheek to implement the paid parking in the shopping center.

Kimbot

Moonbaby wrote: »

Given the state of the roads in Longford town particularly in Grand Canyon st where providers resides.
The council have some cheek to implement the paid parking in the shopping center.

Have to agree with you on that!! The roads are a joke, I also think that the roads around the town in general are a joke. The rip them up, work on them, lay them again andd then start ripping them up again.

Oh and if your looking for parking the providers car park is free and so is the Lidl/Aldi ones.

kerash

Moonbaby wrote: »

Given the state of the roads in Longford town particularly in Grand Canyon st where providers resides.
The council have some cheek to implement the paid parking in the shopping center.

I hear their gonna have to do that whole road because the foundations are no good, they cant just do surface work:( It'll be sum craic tryin to get around the town whenever that starts...

Kimbot

kerash wrote: »

I hear their gonna have to do that whole road because the foundations are no good, they cant just do surface work:( It'll be sum craic tryin to get around the town whenever that starts...

I'd well believe it, at least there are ways around that road so it shouldn't be too bad.

orbital83

jonny24ie wrote: »

I'd well believe it, at least there are ways around that road so it shouldn't be too bad.

3 weeks before Christmas... that would be a good time to start the works methinks. Doing it in the long bright summer evenings makes way too much sense!! :rolleyes:

The are actually going to close the road for the summer, and reverse the flow of traffic down dog lady street.

orbital83

I see the meters have finally been switched on. Noticed some mugs were paying today. Over my dead body will the councillors get a cent off me to pay for their flash meetings and expenses... straight down to Templemichael Terrace! The extra couple of minutes walk is good for me anyway :rolleyes:

Tesco are giving a refund of the €2 fee if you spend €30 or more. Presumably prices will increase here and there to subsidise this.

No equivalent measure the other shops, so I suppose they'll suffer a bit.

orbital83

Moonbaby wrote: »

The are actually going to close the road for the summer, and reverse the flow of traffic down dog lady street.

I see they closed Richmond St for a few weeks, but now it has reopened and there are no visible changes, in fact is possibly worse than ever.

The Christmas rush is only four months away now, the temptation to leave the job for smack bang in the middle of December must have been too great??!

Occidental

John J wrote: »

I see the meters have finally been switched on. Noticed some mugs were paying today. QUOTE]

I'm sure Dunnes are happy. Should be a laugh over the next few days, as people gradually realise the meters are in operation.

baldbear

Paid parking in tesco longford, what is the world coming to!!! Only copped it when i was in Tescos and the lady says you get 2 hours free parking if you spend €30....(which is robbery) and i had the car parked for a half an hour with no ticket!. Went out and saw what looked like a load a tickets on some other poor eejits car wipers.
In athlones Golden island the businesses wouldn't allow paid parking so all the ticket machines have black bin bags over the meters. Fair play to them. There all a shower of cowboys

browne

the new parking metres at tesco are very unfair, i was there yesterday, had just to pop into the shopping centre for a few minutes yet the minimum charge for the parking metres is for an hour... one euro per hour, this is unfair as up the town i think u can pay for 15 or 20 minutes minimum charge which is handy for brief parking periods..

it is offputting and unfair that the minimum charge is one euro as opposed to a minimum charge of 20 cent for 15/20 minutes as is up the town etc.

its unfair on the consumer and also unfair on business around the shopping centre that no such minimum charge is in operation. very often one may just want to park for a few mins or max 10 to 15 mins to collect something or pop in somewhere for a few mins etc.

the council need to rectify this as it is unfair the way it is

orbital83

There was a long fight over this between shopping centre management and the council.

When shopping centre management changed (due to tragic circumstances I'm sure you remember), the council seemed to get their way much more easily.

Why the hell are the council charging €1 per hour to park around the town anyway?
I was in Castlebar at the weekend - similar size town - and the charge is 30 cent an hour.
What's so special about Longford that justifies a charge over three times more?

The lads in the council are just used to plenty of money rolling in from planning applications during the housing boom. Now that money is gone for good and they need something else to plug the hole.

God forbid they'd have to munch Tesco Ginger Nuts at their plush and pointless meetings, instead of Cadbury Elite.
They might even get a parking ticket on the way in to get the Ginger Nuts.

Kimbot

John J wrote: »

There was a long fight over this between shopping centre management and the council.

When shopping centre management changed (due to tragic circumstances I'm sure you remember), the council seemed to get their way much more easily.

Why the hell are the council charging €1 per hour to park around the town anyway?
I was in Castlebar at the weekend - similar size town - and the charge is 30 cent an hour.
What's so special about Longford that justifies a charge over three times more?

The lads in the council are just used to plenty of money rolling in from planning applications during the housing boom. Now that money is gone for good and they need something else to plug the hole.

God forbid they'd have to munch Tesco Ginger Nuts at their plush and pointless meetings, instead of Cadbury Elite.
They might even get a parking ticket on the way in to get the Ginger Nuts.

I remember it was only 20cent an hour in the town not too long ago. The thing about it is that nobody is complaining and the traffic/parking situation in the town is getting much worse so they know people will pay the price.
Also the fact that Longford were charging "Dublin prices" for house when they were nowhere near the size/standard of the houses in Dublin makes them thing all prices should be close enough to "Dublin prices". Its a joke really to think that people will pay these prices for parking etc.