What do people think of the Traffic Wardens in Leixlip/Celbridge?

portumna

In my opinion they are doing a thankless job for f'all money and really aren't as bad as the Liffey Champion make them out to be. The councillors also jump on their backs about what they do but it was tha council who installed the parking system and passed the bye-laws in the first place.

They way i see it is if people park illegally then they deserve a ticket. People who park on double yellows or on footpaths are obstructing traffic/pedestrians, parking in bus stops blocks traffic when a bus arrives and can't pull (although some of the Dublin Bus drivers aren't able to pull into a free bus stop), parking in loading bays makes trucks park on double yellows and footpaths and blocks up the town for upto 20mins at a time and the worst of the lot people parking in disabled bays without having a disabled badge. It doesn't stop traffic or hold up pedestrians but it is a terrible act and these people deserve their €80 fine and more.

Then the lesser offence of not paying your parking fee. I don't really have too much sympathy for these people either as they could surely afford the few cent it costs to park legally. In Leixlip it's only 25cent ffs and Celbridge its some thing like €1.

So for once I'm defending the wardens and would like to hear what others think.

And this is my 100 post. :D:D

Blue_Wolf

i agree with parking on footpaths and double yellow lines. But I think there should be free parking like in Maynooth. They want people to shop in the village but the lack of spaces. It's not the 25c that matters, it's the delay of having to go into Spar to buy it and than go back to the car.

I think the Gardai might be better off doing it. Save a bit of tax payer money and the Gardai can check peoples tax and insurance while they are at it

portumna

Blue_Wolf wrote: »

i agree with parking on footpaths and double yellow lines. But I think there should be free parking like in Maynooth. They want people to shop in the village but the lack of spaces. It's not the 25c that matters, it's the delay of having to go into Spar to buy it and than go back to the car.

I think the Gardai might be better off doing it. Save a bit of tax payer money and the Gardai can check peoples tax and insurance while they are at it

The wardens give 10 mins to go and get a ticket so the delay doesn't really count. I heard the council had plans to install ticket machines in Leixlip but this was put onhold because of the recession. But if they did this then the price would increase by 400% to €1. Also there are plans to introduce paid parking in Maynooth and Clane.


The wardens can give out tax fines too. Was in the Spar carpark the other day and heard someone abusing the warden about a fine that they got since they had a ticket on their car and the warden told him that his tax was out and that was what the fine was for. €60 i believe. He got even worse abuse after tellin him that.

Joe Public

Blue_Wolf wrote: »

i agree with parking on footpaths and double yellow lines. But I think there should be free parking like in Maynooth. They want people to shop in the village but the lack of spaces. It's not the 25c that matters, it's the delay of having to go into Spar to buy it and than go back to the car.

I think the Gardai might be better off doing it. Save a bit of tax payer money and the Gardai can check peoples tax and insurance while they are at it

Since Celbridge got pay parking it is easier to park in town since it stops the all day and all week parking. If you ask around in Maynooth you will find the traders in the main st area would prefer pay parking as many of the spots are taken for the day by train users and workers in Manor Mills etc.
You may ask why workers in Manor Mills park on the street, they do it so they can get away faster in the evenings.

The parking wardens also check for tax, insurance and NCT.

portumna

Joe Public wrote: »

Since Celbridge got pay parking it is easier to park in town since it stops the all day and all week parking. If you ask around in Maynooth you will find the traders in the main st area would prefer pay parking as many of the spots are taken for the day by train users and workers in Manor Mills etc.
You may ask why workers in Manor Mills park on the street, they do it so they can get away faster in the evenings.

The parking wardens also check for tax, insurance and NCT.

They check for tax alright but not for insurance or NCT.

Joe Public

portumna wrote: »

They check for tax alright but not for insurance or NCT.

On mature reflection, I think you are correct!

Blue_Wolf

I don't see why they wouldn't ring up the gardai about the car that has no insurance displayed.
That's a fair enough point about the paid parking. I think introducing first 30min-hour free system would benefit both sides?
Main street retailers have the spaces freed up from commuters dumping their car there for hours and us the consumer can do something quickly without having to pay!

daheff

maybe first 30mins free would be a good idea...but the council wouldnt get any money from it then!


i think it should be free parking for an hour..after that you should pay a nominal fee for the next hour/two (regardless of how long you intend staying)...eg first hour free next two will be only €2 eur

portumna

daheff wrote: »

maybe first 30mins free would be a good idea...but the council wouldnt get any money from it then!


i think it should be free parking for an hour..after that you should pay a nominal fee for the next hour/two (regardless of how long you intend staying)...eg first hour free next two will be only €2 eur

That would defeat the whole purpose of the parking system. It's not there as a money making recket it's there to stop all the people working in the towns parking there all day taking up premium parking spaces and leaving no room for the customers. Originally it was designed for the busines but now they're the ones giving out about it (well in Leixlip anyway not too sure about Celbridge).

daheff

i dont think it would defeat the system

currently in celbridge you can park for up to 2 hours (paid of course)...if you could park for 1 hr free & then pay for the extra 2 ...its only an extra 1 hr...they still could have their 1 hr zone *(free)* in the middle of the town

Davidth88

daheff wrote: »

maybe first 30mins free would be a good idea...but the council wouldnt get any money from it then!

The pay parking in Celbridge/Liexlip is costing the council money not making it .

Somehow they have signed a contract where it's costing money , I have no idea how that works considering a private company is running it.

The reason people are giving out about it are because we have had a few ' jobsworth ' wardens ( well one in particular ) , who was moved from Celbridge to Leixlip.
Apparently he/she was ticketing cars as the people were walking to get tkts .

daheff

its more than just that....my local barber was telling me of one of the guys in celbridge

somebody walked in to pay a fine (after being ticketed while going off getting a parking ticket ...arguement ensued...parking warden decides hes locking the person in and calling the gardai...gardai arrive and are told that the person is being held against their will...warden is now in the sh*t .....but sad thing is that the company has not fired this individual!!!:eek:

portumna

Davidth88 wrote: »

The pay parking in Celbridge/Liexlip is costing the council money not making it .

Somehow they have signed a contract where it's costing money , I have no idea how that works considering a private company is running it.

The reason people are giving out about it are because we have had a few ' jobsworth ' wardens ( well one in particular ) , who was moved from Celbridge to Leixlip.
Apparently he/she was ticketing cars as the people were walking to get tkts .

AFAIK the wardens patrol both Celbridge and Leixlip and are not just situated in one or the other. I did hear that 1 warden was causing problems but these were mainly in Leixlip. The days they are in Celbridge there doesn't seem to be a problem. I dont believe that a warden was giving tickets to cars when people were gone to the shop to buy discs. There is a 10 min grace period before a ticket can be issued. The way things work with the computers they have is they log in the car reg and leave it for 10 mins. If the car still has no ticket when checked again after at least 10 mins then a ticket is issued. It's all logged on the main system and therefore is visible to management. If the warden wasn't giving the 10 mins or issueing tickets straight away then the management would know but this is not the case. I believe a quote from ex Town Cllr Paul Kelly that appeared in the Liffey Champion in April sums up my point. "I've never seen a car get a ticket that wasn't illegally parked".

daheff wrote: »

its more than just that....my local barber was telling me of one of the guys in celbridge

somebody walked in to pay a fine (after being ticketed while going off getting a parking ticket ...arguement ensued...parking warden decides hes locking the person in and calling the gardai...gardai arrive and are told that the person is being held against their will...warden is now in the sh*t .....but sad thing is that the company has not fired this individual!!!:eek:

This is a complete fabrication. Your tale falls down with the bit in bold. This never happened and if it had the warden in question would have been dismissed immediately without a second thought. And he would also have been prosecuted by the Gardai. Surely this would have been documented in the Liffey Champion as they love to jump on the back of the traffic wardens at every opportunity but i've never seen of or heard about any such incident nor has my mate.

Davidth88

Hi,

To be fair I only heard that second hand, by the way you don't buy discs , there are machines on the street.

certainly the warden in Celbridge did create a lot of bad blood when this system first came in . I think he was a little ' over zelous ' . I read ( In the LChamp ) that he was moved to Leixlip , which co-incidently was when the issues started happening there.

I too heard the story about the ' lock in ' , perhaps I share the same barbers as daheff.

My beef is that it's reported ( again in LChamp ) that this system is costing something like 250k a year in Celbridge, when KCC have just removed all street cleaning from the same town to save money.

It's similar to Dublin where clamping is reportingly costing the CC millions ..... someone somewhere is milking it , and as usual the taxpayer is picking up the tab .

I would always treat wardens with respect , however if any of them displayed the behaviour that was rumoured/reported , I would loose any respect for them .

Davidth88

Portumna... I see you have also posted about the wardens in Newbridge

Do you have any vested interest in parking control ?

portumna

Davidth88 wrote: »

Hi,

To be fair I only heard that second hand, by the way you don't buy discs , there are machines on the street.

certainly the warden in Celbridge did create a lot of bad blood when this system first came in . I think he was a little ' over zelous ' . I read ( In the LChamp ) that he was moved to Leixlip , which co-incidently was when the issues started happening there.

I too heard the story about the ' lock in ' , perhaps I share the same barbers as daheff.

My beef is that it's reported ( again in LChamp ) that this system is costing something like 250k a year in Celbridge, when KCC have just removed all street cleaning from the same town to save money.

It's similar to Dublin where clamping is reportingly costing the CC millions ..... someone somewhere is milking it , and as usual the taxpayer is picking up the tab .

I would always treat wardens with respect , however if any of them displayed the behaviour that was rumoured/reported , I would loose any respect for them .

They have the machines in Celbridge but in Leixlip they still have the discs that you buy in the shop and have to scratch off. I do believe that the system is losing money but i think this is down to the fact that parking in Leixlip is only €0.25 and in Celbridge is 400% dearer at €1.

From what i've heard the problems started when the warden in question was moved from Newbridge and started enforcing the laws where the previous warden (who has been let go for not doing his job) was letting everything go and not issueing tickets.

Also in the Liffey Champion i've only heard one side of the story. I don't know if this is down to them not wanting to print it or if ParkRite don't give it to them. I'm in a position where i get information from both sides thanks to the warden i know.

Davidth88 wrote: »

Portumna... I see you have also posted about the wardens in Newbridge

Do you have any vested interest in parking control ?

I live in Leixlip and know one of the wardens that covers Celbridge/Leixlip. I know of the Newbridge/Kildare town crowd because the warden i know used to work there before ParkRite lost the contract to Apcoa.

cocanefreak

portumna wrote: »

In my opinion they are doing a thankless job for f'all money and really aren't as bad as the Liffey Champion make them out to be. The councillors also jump on their backs about what they do but it was tha council who installed the parking system and passed the bye-laws in the first place.

They way i see it is if people park illegally then they deserve a ticket. People who park on double yellows or on footpaths are obstructing traffic/pedestrians, parking in bus stops blocks traffic when a bus arrives and can't pull (although some of the Dublin Bus drivers aren't able to pull into a free bus stop), parking in loading bays makes trucks park on double yellows and footpaths and blocks up the town for upto 20mins at a time and the worst of the lot people parking in disabled bays without having a disabled badge. It doesn't stop traffic or hold up pedestrians but it is a terrible act and these people deserve their €80 fine and more.

Then the lesser offence of not paying your parking fee. I don't really have too much sympathy for these people either as they could surely afford the few cent it costs to park legally. In Leixlip it's only 25cent ffs and Celbridge its some thing like €1.

So for once I'm defending the wardens and would like to hear what others think.

And this is my 100 post. :D:D

what about people like me who live up the top of saint patricks park with no drive and still recieve fines for not havin a tax disc on a car thats off the road?? and when i explained this what did the warden say?? TUFF not my problem, or what happens when i have no where to park and have to park outside of where my permit allows me and still get a fine for not displaying a valid permit, im sorry but pay parking is not needed all the way up the top of the park, and our wardens need to learn how to deal with the public in a professional and curtious mannar instead of tryin to hand out as many "commission fines" at the end of the month

portumna

cocanefreak wrote: »

what about people like me who live up the top of saint patricks park with no drive and still recieve fines for not havin a tax disc on a car thats off the road?? and when i explained this what did the warden say?? TUFF not my problem, or what happens when i have no where to park and have to park outside of where my permit allows me and still get a fine for not displaying a valid permit, im sorry but pay parking is not needed all the way up the top of the park, and our wardens need to learn how to deal with the public in a professional and curtious mannar instead of tryin to hand out as many "commission fines" at the end of the month

You must be joking with that highlighted remark. The wardens issue very few fines in the town and don't get anything extra for the fines they issue. If they did there would be a lot more fines issued and a lot more people complaining about them!

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

niceguy123

Obaraten wrote: »

I saw new wardens in celbridge the other day,are they the same crowd that work in Newbridge?

Hi I met the two new wardens in celbridge on friday and they explained that they were taking over from the last crowd and said that they had heard storys about them some too untrue to believe. They say that they could not comment on same as they were not there .They said they were very fair and work within the law and treat all customers fairly and the same. They simple said that if you are parked illegally then you will recieve a fine . They also went on to mention that every one get a grace time for getting change and also coming back to the car. They seem like two nice gents well dressed and manored .I ask them how much do they get for each fine and they said that they only get an hourly rate and no more. Yes they are the same company in newbridge. i asked about instand fines and they said these are double yellow, disabled bays bus stops etc.
I have changed my view on wardens , these lads are just doing there job and keeping traffic running free and helping our disabled freinds. I saw them asking drivers to move from bus stops and loading bays and not issue fine to them. Keep up the good work:):)

Tilt Gone

Davidth88 wrote: »

The pay parking in Celbridge/Liexlip is costing the council money not making it .

Somehow they have signed a contract where it's costing money , I have no idea how that works considering a private company is running it.

The reason people are giving out about it are because we have had a few ' jobsworth ' wardens ( well one in particular ) , who was moved from Celbridge to Leixlip.
Apparently he/she was ticketing cars as the people were walking to get tkts .

Well i hope he/she doesn't try this with me or he/she'll be very sorry. Just the thoughts of some smug litttle man trying to do that makes my blood boil :

Tilt Gone

portumna wrote: »

I live in Leixlip and know one of the wardens that covers Celbridge/Leixlip. I know of the Newbridge/Kildare town crowd because the warden i know used to work there before ParkRite lost the contract to Apcoa.

Ah come on!! You're the traffic warden aren't you???

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

danny187

portumna wrote: »

You must be joking with that highlighted remark. The wardens issue very few fines in the town and don't get anything extra for the fines they issue. If they did there would be a lot more fines issued and a lot more people complaining about them!

they do get a commission on fines. portumna ether works for park rite gangsters or is a warden, i also get fines for having my car off the road outside my own house for havin no tax, they are not needed there jus a bunch of money hungry gangsters:D

Crann na Beatha

This post has been deleted.

Davidth88

There was something in the Liffey Champion about it , never said what happened .