Licensing of Liston car park almost complete
car park
16 Apr 2022
/ 12:36
CORFU. The car park opens this weekend and won΄t close again - The automated system will be ready by 18 May.
The long saga with the car park opening and closing until the proper licence was sorted out is finally coming to an end, according to the Deputy Mayor for Technical Works. The same, however, cannot be said about the ongoing dispute between the local residents and the local authority regarding permanent parking spaces, as was seen in a recent Municipal Council meeting.
Ongoing saga
"The Municipality closed the car park on 9 March in order to change the parking layout and markings so that it could receive a licence under the new law," Deputy Mayor Nikos Kalogeros told Enimerosi. He said that the layout of parking spaces is changing radically along with signage and crossings and to do this the car park has to be completely free of vehicles.
"In my view and from what I saw, there was an argument for two weeks over whether there should be barriers or markings," said Mr. Kalogeros. "The Municipality, in collaboration with the Traffic Police, had to use two trucks to remove vehicles that were obstructing the work. We managed to get this done by last Monday." He said that announcements on the internet that the car park had opened for one weekend were fake news and resulted in sabotage by some people of the barriers put up by the municipality and the car park bar next to the Upper Square.
Car park is still run by the Municipality
In response to rumours going around, Mr. Kalogeros stated categorically that the car park will not be transferred to private ownership. It remains the responsibility of the Municipality and the operation and pricing policy will be determined by Central Corfu Municipality.
According to the Deputy Mayor, the automated parking system will be ready by 18 May. The parking cost for visitors and local residents has yet to be decided.
Licence
According to Deputy Regional Governor Kostas Zorbas, the licensing of the car park will proceed without delay with the submission of the required documents following an inspection by the Regional Authority, if the space fulfils all the required conditions. Deputy Mayor Nikos Kalogeros says that all the necessary work under the new law has been completed. The law requires a larger area for each parking space (the number of spaces has been reduced from 250 to approximately 200), crossings for pedestrians and those with special needs, lighting and fire extinguishing systems. It should be noted that the fire extinguishing system does not require a fire certificate, as Fire Department sources confirmed to Enimerosi.
Furthermore, the fact that the town is a UNESCO Heritage Site means that it does not have the obligation to fence in the area, according to Mr. Kalogeros.
The car park will not close again
"The work has been completed and in the afternoon on Lazarus Saturday, the car park will be open to the public," the Deputy Mayor told Enimerosi. "It will not close again - not even for the installation of the automated system. The installation work will be completed in stages with some spaces being closed off at a time."
Free parking out of the question
It is agreed by all that the Old Town needs to remain a living, functional place and must not turn into a 'museum'. However, the harmonious co-existence with business and tourist activities is the equation that needs to be balanced and will require strong political will. The issue of parking spaces is just one of the 'co-existence' problems.
With regard to the burning issue of parking spaces for the town residents, the local authority is keeping its cards close to its chest. The first stage of registering the vehicles has happened but the procedure has not yet been completed.
The Permanent Residents Association has put forward specific proposals but the provision of free parking spaces is not being considered - at least, according to what Mayor Meropi Ydraiou has implied. Discount prices seems to be the preferred option but the exact figure and who will be entitled are matters for future meetings of the Financial Committee and the Municipal Council, whilst residents remain unsatisfied.
Ongoing saga
"The Municipality closed the car park on 9 March in order to change the parking layout and markings so that it could receive a licence under the new law," Deputy Mayor Nikos Kalogeros told Enimerosi. He said that the layout of parking spaces is changing radically along with signage and crossings and to do this the car park has to be completely free of vehicles.
"In my view and from what I saw, there was an argument for two weeks over whether there should be barriers or markings," said Mr. Kalogeros. "The Municipality, in collaboration with the Traffic Police, had to use two trucks to remove vehicles that were obstructing the work. We managed to get this done by last Monday." He said that announcements on the internet that the car park had opened for one weekend were fake news and resulted in sabotage by some people of the barriers put up by the municipality and the car park bar next to the Upper Square.
Car park is still run by the Municipality
In response to rumours going around, Mr. Kalogeros stated categorically that the car park will not be transferred to private ownership. It remains the responsibility of the Municipality and the operation and pricing policy will be determined by Central Corfu Municipality.
According to the Deputy Mayor, the automated parking system will be ready by 18 May. The parking cost for visitors and local residents has yet to be decided.
Licence
According to Deputy Regional Governor Kostas Zorbas, the licensing of the car park will proceed without delay with the submission of the required documents following an inspection by the Regional Authority, if the space fulfils all the required conditions. Deputy Mayor Nikos Kalogeros says that all the necessary work under the new law has been completed. The law requires a larger area for each parking space (the number of spaces has been reduced from 250 to approximately 200), crossings for pedestrians and those with special needs, lighting and fire extinguishing systems. It should be noted that the fire extinguishing system does not require a fire certificate, as Fire Department sources confirmed to Enimerosi.
Furthermore, the fact that the town is a UNESCO Heritage Site means that it does not have the obligation to fence in the area, according to Mr. Kalogeros.
The car park will not close again
"The work has been completed and in the afternoon on Lazarus Saturday, the car park will be open to the public," the Deputy Mayor told Enimerosi. "It will not close again - not even for the installation of the automated system. The installation work will be completed in stages with some spaces being closed off at a time."
Free parking out of the question
It is agreed by all that the Old Town needs to remain a living, functional place and must not turn into a 'museum'. However, the harmonious co-existence with business and tourist activities is the equation that needs to be balanced and will require strong political will. The issue of parking spaces is just one of the 'co-existence' problems.
With regard to the burning issue of parking spaces for the town residents, the local authority is keeping its cards close to its chest. The first stage of registering the vehicles has happened but the procedure has not yet been completed.
The Permanent Residents Association has put forward specific proposals but the provision of free parking spaces is not being considered - at least, according to what Mayor Meropi Ydraiou has implied. Discount prices seems to be the preferred option but the exact figure and who will be entitled are matters for future meetings of the Financial Committee and the Municipal Council, whilst residents remain unsatisfied.
