Introducing car parking charges in Phoenix Park is necessary to maintain biodiversity, a Green Party Councillor has said.
The Office of Public Works (OPW) launched the Phoenix Park Parking Strategy yesterday, inviting people to review a draft strategy and make suggestions over the next five weeks.
One suggestion is legislation to introduce a charge for cars parked within the park. The idea was compared to Greenwich Park in the UK.
Greenwich currently charges £1.40 (€1.60) per hour to park in the area.
Green Party Councillor Janet Horner told Newstalk Breakfast that introduce this fee is “a really positive move” for the area.
“Anybody who uses the park will know that one of the major barriers to fully enjoying park at the moment is just how much traffic is in there,” she said.
“There are not just people driving into the park to visit but there's also a lot of commuter traffic, so people driving through from one side to the other as far as their daily commutes.
“Sometimes [they are] parking off in the park and then continuing on into the city centre from there by another means and that does mean that the park is very congested.”
Public transport
Cllr Horner said a charge associated with driving would “encourage people to use more sustainable modes of transport” and for more public transport to be provided.
She said: “One of the measures that [is] coming alongside this, which I'm really welcoming, is the introduction of a public bus service that will start to serve as some of the major spots around the park.”
Green lungs of the city
Cllr Horner said parking charges in Phoenix Park would help preserve its biodiversity, which she said is currently in “significant danger”.
“I think we are looking at the corrosion of what should be the green lungs in the city,” she said.
“When you go into the parks and the roar of traffic is what you hear instead of the chirping of birds - these things have impact on people's mental health.”
“I think it is important that people have access to nature spaces - and I think that when your nature space is also a highway of a sort, it does impact you”
