Liffey valley to start charging for parking

I am not a car advocate by any means, but it does look like the parking fees have back fired on the centre.

There is a lot of retail choice in the Dublin area and if a centre becomes uncompetitive, it is easy for customers to drive elsewhere.

Had to go to LV on Saturday morning. Arrived at 11.30. Went to the M&S car park and it was very quiet. Plenty of free space in the other car parks also. The centre was very quiet and I was sad to see that the Body Shop has closed down. All of the shops (Zara, River Island, Next) in that part of the centre were very quiet. The centre must be like a ghost town during the week. Management made a big mistake when the introduced those parking fees.

Body shop has seen a huge drop in business generally and it has / is closing dozens of stores as leases expire . New owners bought from the previous owners for 80% less than the purchase price in 2017 - which gives you an idea of how bad sales were in the company. New owners also own LLoyd Pharmacy and plan new ranges and a shop in shop version in many Lloyd pharmacies. (Here in Ireland they will be in McCabe pharmacies which is part of Lloyds.

And 11.30 on a Saturday morning at the end of January is quiet everywhere - its possibly the quietest Saturday of the year. Kildare Village was quiet last Saturday too.

Within the retail sector, Liffey Valley is seen as a strong performer and the parking is regarded by retailers as a success despite some misgivings initially.

I have no issue with the parking charges, but mother of christ, I wish they'd sort out the access. Absolute pandemonium trying to get in today. They weren't allowing anyone to enter the car parks at the cinema or Starbucks, instead all the traffic was getting funnelled into a single lane at both those roundabouts and forced down to the entrances at Next and Marks & Sparks. It was an absolute shít show. And to add insult to injury, Boots didn't even have either of the two items I went in for in the first place 🙄

Yeah...I think a lot of customers would tolerate the paid parking if it meant easy access and egress but it's simply not happening here. What is so problematic about this carpark thats not an issue at other paid parking facilities?

I've spent hundreds if not thousands in LV since it opened. I have been once since the charges have gone in. It is too much hassle , even though its not. Anyway the life is slowly draining out of the centre anyway. There seems to be less middle aged shoppers like there used to be and just loads of roaming teenagers instead.

Why aren't people setting up automatic payments? Drive in, drive out. No queuing at the machine, no waiting on exiting...

No financial advantage. Very minimal time saved. Web site is a pile of junk. Will be charged if you go to cinema because it scans your reg before you get to use the voucher.

Much easier to just pay as you go upon exit. I don’t even know why people bother to pay at the machines in the centre.

Dunno why you can't just pay with cash in a machine as you leave the center, like Jervis or the square. An easy user friendly system.

I don't think it's being wedded to driving as such.

I'm not a big driver, but I have my car to make my life easier.

Firstly I've worked in the city centre for most of my adult life so carrying bags on the bus wouldn't be a big issue for me,pain in the hole yes, big issue no.

However throw in a couple of kids absolutely no way would I be bringing them shopping getting a bus, no guarantee getting on, if another pram or wheelchair on it, or having the hassle to fold down the buggy while everyone pushes past you. Then standing with young kids and bags, absolutely not! I don't think I'm alone with that.

Plus it's the time, you'd often be there and ready to be coming home in the time it takes waiting for a bus, the bus journey etc.

I do accept that it isn't going to suit everyone obviously, but there has been a big increase in the bus service serving the centre, and I still think that there is a bit of a blindspot among many people that they don't even want to consider using the bus and as such many people just haven't been bothered looking at the new services.

The S4 for example (a combination of the old 76, 18 and 17) is every 10 minutes which is a huge increase in service.

Reading this thread, you would think that accessing Liffey Valley by any transport mode apart from the private car was impossible.

I can understand getting a bus from your locality to bring you straight into town for to go shopping (although personally that would be hell on earth for me lugging shopping bags on and off a bus) - but getting 2 busses to a place which has limited retail outlets ? You’d want to have a lot of time on your hands and very low expectations of what you might buy when you get there

The financial premise on which most of these shopping centres were designed funded and built was that people would mainly arrive by car (probably with the exception of Dundrum which has many public transport options including the Luas and is bang in the middle of some of the most affluent and populous areas of Ireland.

Families especially go to such places regularly because there’s always something to buy - sports gear, shoes, outfits etc for the kids for example. It’s also a handy place to spend a few hours on a bad winters day to get the kids out of the house.

If it becomes more difficult or costly then a family won’t go- or they will go to an alternative SC -its families that spend significant amounts of money in the restaurants cafes etc as well as the clothes fashion and household outlets

Pizz then off at your peril - make it hard work for mammies and daddies and you’ll see your profits fall overnight

People also tend to exaggerate the problem - I am not saying that it is perfect but I think that wild generalisations such as you posted are a bit much.

The C Spine peak frequency has increased in the last six months with more C3 and C4 services.

The L53 in particular is there to take pressure off the C1/C2 and facilitate local traffic.

A bus network needs a combination of spine, radial, orbital and local services. The more of the latter two categories of routes means less pressure on citybound services, and more travel options for people.

Not everyone wants to be dealing with buses - especially with the sort of little hassles as outlined above by others.

Centres like this aren't just used by locals (and why would someone living near Blanch or Dundrum or town trek all the way out to LV on public transport when they have those locations nearby), but they ARE used by people coming in from further afield where public transport ISN'T readily available or is even more expensive. It would be interesting how many come to LV/Blanch from Kildare/Meath or beyond.

Plus if you have a car and need it for other trips then it's an added expense and hassle that you don't need, and far less attractive than just getting in the car you're already paying for. This is what planners and the likes of the Greens don't understand.

On LV itself, I haven't been there in years (again outside even it's more remote catchment areas) but was never a fan of it vs Blanch which is a lot easier to get around. I was never a fan of the angled spaces though as I always prefer to reverse into spots which is far safer when leaving again (just drive out with better visibility) especially in busy car parks. Sounds like the new arrangements are even worse.