Residents of a north Dublin housing estate have criticised new rules which would see vehicles parked on the roads or footpaths outside their homes clamped from next month.
Residents of Cedarview in Northwood, Santry were informed that due to a recent change in policy they could no longer park on the footpath or road outside their homes. In an August 9th letter, Wyse property management said the policy had been agreed by the Northwood Owners’ Management Company at an extraordinary general meeting in April.
The correspondence, seen by The Irish Times, said the policy would mean “any vehicles which are parked on the roads or footpaths in Cedarview will be clamped”.
The letter states: “Between 9am and 6pm daily, a vehicle parked fully on a road only won’t be clamped. If a vehicle is parked on a road between 6pm and 9am daily, the vehicle will be clamped.”
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A parking management company would be “commencing their patrols” to enforce the new policy from September 1st, it continues.
The letter said on an “exceptional basis” people with a disability parking card visiting a resident could park on the street without being clamped “on a temporary basis”, as could contractors carrying out works on properties in the estate.
Wyse, the company managing the housing estate, did not respond to requests for comment on the clamping policy.
While homes in the estate have two driveway parking spaces, many households are occupied by renters who have three or four vehicles.
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Cathal Keogh, a 33-year-old teacher from Limerick living in the estate, described the policy as “very anti-renter”.
Mr Keogh, who teaches in a school in Sutton, lives with three other teachers, who all rely on their cars to get to work. He said the policy to clamp cars parked on the street came “out of the blue” for people renting in the estate, who he said were not consulted beforehand.
Renters sharing homes where more than two people in the house needed to drive had been offered “no alternatives”, Mr Keogh said.
“The plan is to hope and pray they roll back on it. If they don’t, I haven’t a clue what we’re going to do,” he said.
Maryrose Walsh (25), a special needs primary schoolteacher in Swords who lives in the estate, said the policy had led to “a lot of stress and anxiety” in recent days.
“In my house there’s four primary schoolteachers, we’ve two spaces in the drive, so two of us will be clamped every day,” she said.
“So, we’re looking at do I sell my car? Then there isn’t ample public transport either so that’s not an option,” she said.
Ms Walsh said cycling to work was “not sustainable” due to the location and the fact she often had to bring materials needed for teaching into the school.
“I’m facing going out every morning to school and there being a clamp on my car,” she said. “The first thing I’d have to do is to let my principal know that, potentially, I could be late five mornings a week. Then that in turn affects the kids I’m taking who have special needs. A few groups might miss out on their slots in my timetable during the day.”
* A correction was made to this article on 24/08/022 to clarify the parking hours allowed under the new rules.
