Fine Gael TD for Dublin Fingal Alan Farrell and party colleague, Cllr Anthony Lavin has said that an agreement to increase taxi rank spaces will free up parking and improve traffic movement in the village.
According to Deputy Farrell, the current lack of taxi space has lead to the unavailability of parking during the day, and traffic disruptions at night. “There is demand for an around the clock taxi service in Malahide Village, and yet we only have part time facilities. Consequently, parking spaces in the village are being clogged up by taxis in order to reduce fuel costs, and in the evenings the traffic in the village is held up by taxi queues on the street.
“This has a knock on effect for local business as it reduces parking availability for their customers.”
At a recent council meeting Cllr Anthony Lavin put forward a motion to provide a 24 hour dedicated taxi spaces in the village, after which an agreement was reached. “Following a discussion at the meeting, Area Manager Gary OBrien has agreed to
follow up on two locations that have the potential to create up to 10 full time spaces in the village.
This would involve upgrading the part time rank outside Gibneys to a full time rank, and also creating a new taxi rank outside The Grand Hotel. Taxis provide a social service to the community and I am fully in support of this move.
Welcoming the outcome of the meeting, Deputy Farrell stressed the importance of managing taxi providers in the village while allowing taxis to run their business. It is vital that local authorities provide facilities for business where there is demand, and to also to remove any disincentive, such as traffic disruption, for people to drive into our towns and villages to do their shopping and support local businesses.
I am pleased with the outcome of Cllr Lavin’s motion as well as the agreement by Fingal County Council to take action on this issue.
ENDS