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Motorists pay the price for parking in Newry

Over 8,000 people in Newry were issued with parking tickets last year, the third highest area in the north. The city was named the third highest behind Belfast and Derry with a total of 8,499 tickets issued between January 1 2011 and December 31 of the same year. Buttercrane Quay also had the third highest ticketed street, road or car park in the north with 1369 fines being issued for parking violations. Monaghan Street car park was the second most ticketed area in Newry with 1130 issued in the year, a stark comparison to Warrenpoint which had 192 tickets issued throughout the whole town in the same period. The most common reasons for being issued with a ticket were parking in a restricted street which has double and single yellow lines, being parked in a pay and display car park without displaying a valid ticket and parking on a street for longer that permitted. The body which represents the independent retail sector in the north has claimed that shoppers are being driven of many streets at a crucial time because of “over-zealous” traffic wardens. Glyn Roberts, chief executive of the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Association (NIIRTA) said: “There are a lot of areas where the ‘Red Coats’ are over-zealous. I’m not saying that they should turn a blind eye but if someone is 2 mins over their time they should not be slapped with a ticket automatically. We know the traffic attendants have an important job to do but it should not be a free for all and we do need more accessible and affordable parking in our towns over-zealous parking attendants will act as a deterrent.” A spokesperson for NSL the company contracted by the Department of Regional Development to enforce parking restrictions said: “NSL delivers a comprehensive, effective and efficient parking service on behalf of DRDNI. Our role is not to deliver revenue but to keep roads safe, traffic flowing and ensure all road users have fair access to parking spaces.”

 

Newry Democrat

17th April 2012