Private companies 'making a killing' on carparks?
Car park on South Quays.
Councillors clashed with the Executive over the state of parking on the Quays at the recent Metropolitan meeting.
Councillor Eamon Quinlan asked the Executive about the price points of different carparks across the city.
The Fianna Fáil councillor said: "We own the car park next to the Clock Tower in the Tower Hotel direction as well as the area around the new plaza. Some car parks close to the bridge are unregistered. I would like to know if we own these too."
Cllr Quinlan queried about private companies leasing certain carparks and the amount of money they generate.
He said: "I want to know what income the Council is getting from these car parks and I want to know the life time left on these lease agreements. Are private companies making a killing off income while we get peanuts?
He added: "All the while, the most useful car parking spaces in the city, and the first to give visitors an impression, are some of the most expensive. If we directly ran these car parks, we could lower the parking charges to encourage people to use them."
Councillor Jason Murphy pressed the Executive to reveal the amount of money they make from leasing. He said: "I must insist that figure is made publicly known. Are we getting value for money or are the Waterford people getting hosed twice here.
"Once to pay high fees while using the car parks and secondly, if the Council is getting small money, reducing our capacity to spend on public services and allowing us to keep any taxes, on local people, as low as possible.”
The Council Executive team responded that the Port of Waterford owned most of the carparks along the Quay. Most of the Council-owned carpark has been repurposed for the opening of the Sustainable Transport Bridge.
The Executive did not provide a an exact figure for the amount of money generated from leasing out carparks but stated that the figure would be shared as they draw up the 2027 Budget this October.
Funded by the Local Democracy Scheme.
