‘George W was POTUS at start of residents’ parking push’ say frustrated Bogsiders

People living in the area have been campaigning for well over a decade for a scheme that would formally prioritise and guarantee access to parking near their homes.

Mary Roddy is one of those affected. She said: “The issue of residents’ parking needs to be sorted once and for all. People living in this area around William Street, Glenfada Park, Rossville Street, Joseph Place and around the Credit Union have to put up with a lot of inconsiderate parking right at their front doors every day.

“Around Hallowe’en it was particularly bad and will get worse in the next few weeks again. To give you a sense about how long talk of a parking scheme has been going on, George W Bush was the President of America and here we are heading into 2022 and still nothing.”

Last year Infrastructure Minister Nichola Mallon said her department was launching a fresh consultation on a reduced residents’ parking scheme in the Bogside after a formerly proposed scheme in the Rossville Street area was scrapped due to the number of objections it attracted.

Earlier this year Ms. Mallon said her department was reviewing the operation of the first residents’ parking scheme in the north which has been in operation in Rugby Road and College Park Avenue in Belfast since April 2018 and that the ‘current proposals for a scheme in the Bogside area will be considered against the background of these findings’.

Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy said it is vital that a solution is found. “Just being here for even a short while you see and hear from residents the impact the parking issue is having on them and their families. It’s an absolute nightmare at the best of times and this will only increase in the weeks leading up to Christmas with people parking their cars here before heading into the city centre. I am asking people to be mindful of the concerns of local residents. It’s not uncommon at busy times of the year to see vehicles parked on junctions, footpaths and blocking the entrance to homes.”