UL Student Life 'deeply disappointed' by handling of Limerick parking issue

UL STUDENT Life has issued a statement expressing that they are “deeply disappointed” by recent discourse surrounding parking difficulties in Castletroy.

“We believe that both students and local residents are equally affected by inadequate city and university planning,” stated the representatives of the University of Limerick’s (UL) student body.

The statement criticised the “recent media coverage, unconstructive motions proposed by local councillors, and the general discourse that unfairly blames students for the ongoing parking issues in Castletroy”.

“These factors overlook the fact that the situation is the result of a broader combination of factors.”

Some of these factors, mentioned in the post, were the imbalanced ratio of “4 to 8 residents” in the average student house compared to “only one or two” parking spots, and the quantity of students commuting long distances to the university every week.

UL Student Life continued to say that: “While we urge students to be considerate of local residents by parking responsibly, avoiding obstructions to footpaths, emergency vehicle access, or creating hazards for wheelchair users and prams, Cllr Peter Doyle’s motion to further penalize students fails to address the underlying issue”.

In the first week of this semester, 93 fixed penalty notices were issued to drivers parked illegally in housing estates around UL.

In September’s metropolitan district meeting, City East Councillor Peter Doyle saw a motion passed calling for traffic wardens to visit Milford Grange, Elm Park, and Hazelwood every week during the academic year.

Cllr Seán Hartigan and Cllr Joe Pond, also representing City East, the constituency covering Castletroy and UL, both welcomed the motion.

Councillors Ursula Gavan, Elisa O’Donovan and Shane Hickey-O’Mara opposed the motion, and UL Student Life said that they “acknowledge and thank” the councillors for speaking out against it.

READ MORE: Almost 100 penalty notices for illegal parking near University of Limerick

“UL Student Life has consistently advocated for improved infrastructure, both on university grounds and throughout the wider Castletroy area, as student numbers continue to rise,” the statement asserted.

There are over 3,000 parking spaces on the UL campus, servicing over 18,000 students and 2,000 members of staff.

The student representatives urged councillors to “work collaboratively” with both students and residents to “address the root causes of these challenges” and find sustainable, long-term solutions, “instead of assigning blame”.

“Together, we can pursue a more constructive approach to tackling these shared challenges,” the post concluded.

Shared on Instagram, the post was signed by Ronan Cahill, president of UL Student Life, and UL Student Life Executive.

Professor Nigel Healey, vice president Global and Community Engagement at UL, urged students to be “considerate” about where they park their cars and to be “conscious” of other local residents.

In response to a query from Limerick Live, he said: “University of Limerick has been working closely with Limerick City and County Council, An Garda Siochana and local residents’ associations to find solutions to parking issues in neighbouring estates around or near the campus”.

In an email to all UL students last month, Professor Healey urged students to “use public transport when travelling to and from home to your term time residence” to reduce the number of cars, emphasising that “one of the issues which causes problems on the estates” is students having more than one or two cars per house.

Following UL Student Life’s statement, Prof Healey said: “UL is committed to the promotion of sustainable modes of travel and becoming a ‘Smarter Travel’ campus. It is clear that the only sustainable, long term solution to this issue is the promotion of Smarter Travel; that is, reducing students’ reliance on private cars and encouraging them to use public transport or cycling and ebikes where possible”.

He acknowledged that “Realising this solution involves multiple agencies and requires improved bus routes to/from UL, more student accommodation on and around the campus to reduce the need for students to commute long distances to college by car, and better infrastructure for cycling and ebikes”.