Whilst there are a number of car parking options available throughout the town of Naas I strongly feel the presence of clamping operators in some of the car parks is a significant hurdle to the town centre development. I have tabled a motion for this month’s council meeting to engage with the private car parking operators to transition to a “pay on exit” barrier system instead of the clamping some operators currently use. I have heard too many horror stories from one car park in particular, and this needs to be tackled. I have also requested the council perform a wider study of parking needs and capacity in Naas town and am assured that is now in progress. Working with local traders I have proposed various amendments to the current pay parking system which I hope can be adopted following the study. Finally I have also asked whether the council could provide covers or “hoods” for the parking meters at times of free parking to avoid any confusion like happened last Christmas where some people paid anyway with the machines accepting money, despite free parking being in operation at the time.