By Iain Gray
CHEAP parking deals in the heart of Newtownards are set to be scrapped by the council – just in time for the main Christmas shopping period.
Ards and North Down Council currently offers five hours of parking for £1 in pay-and-display town centre car parks it owns.
But officials have now recommended stripping that discount out, leaving eager shoppers and town centre workers paying up to 60p an hour instead.
Council bigwigs want the change brought in on December 2, meaning it’ll strike just as Newtownards’ main Christmas shopping period gets into full force.
The move will hit 10 pay-and-display car parks around Newtownards, as well as several more in Bangor and Holywood.
Four free town centre car parks won’t be affected, and neither will council-owned free car parks dotted around Comber, Donaghadee and Ards peninsula villages.
Six of the affected car parks will charge 40p per hour – though the largest, a 155-capacity site on South Street, will demand 60p per hour.
The move was set to be debated at a meeting of the council’s Environment Committee that got under way shortly after this newspaper went to press last night.
It’s possible that councillors could break with their officials and either refuse to bring in the new charging regime, or delay it until after Christmas.
But officials are certain that the discount needs to be axed, arguing that the new regime would ‘better reflect the value of these town centre car parks’.
In reports compiled for the committee, officials say that the change would increase turnover in parking spaces, boosting footfall.
And it would stop commuters and town centre workers from taking up spaces in ‘key town centre car parks’, they state.
The charging regime formed part of the council’s strategy on car parks, which was compiled several years ago.
But officials weren’t sure if they had the power to scrap the £1 for five hours deal, or if it would require a change to provincewide laws.
In reports, they say they’re now satisfied that the council can change the pay and display regime off its own bat.
The new charges will be advertised in the affected car parks from mid-November.
