Residents’ parking scheme for areas around Magee College campus in Derry ‘long overdue’ says Durkan

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Mark H. Durkan has said residents’ parking schemes for the Rosemount, Glen and Strand areas around Magee are long overdue.

“The expansion of the university in the city offers tremendous opportunities, but with that growth comes inevitable friction, so I am glad that there is now a commitment from the Department to look at that.

"The expansion of the uni is long overdue, but so is a residents' parking scheme. That was the case before the expansion, but it means that the need for a scheme will now be more acute,” the SDLP MLA remarked during a recent sitting of the Stormont Infrastructure Committee.

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Mr. Durkan asked David Porter, director of engineering at the Department for Infrastructure, what action was being taken to alleviate parking pressure in the area around Ulster University in Derry.

Cars lining the street along Aberfoyle Crescent South adjacent to the Magee College campus.Cars lining the street along Aberfoyle Crescent South adjacent to the Magee College campus.
Cars lining the street along Aberfoyle Crescent South adjacent to the Magee College campus.

"We cannot just have residents waiting for a scheme that may never come. What work is DfI doing with other partners, such as the PSNI, for example, on enforcement with Ulster University in Derry and Belfast and, crucially, with Translink to identify potential public transport solutions and new routes and to look at park-and-ride opportunities?” he asked.

Mr. Porter replied: “Your last point was about PSNI enforcement, Translink and other solutions. I cannot answer you by saying that the whole Department is focused on always looking for other solutions.

"As I said, part of the solution to shifting people away from private cars is enforcement, be it through traffic attendants (TAs) or the PSNI, and by making public transport more accessible, attractive and affordable.

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"It is about all those things coming together to make it work. We absolutely are looking for those things. I cannot give a specific example of where we have introduced a bus because of non-delivery of a residents' parking scheme.

"I cannot go into that level of detail, but you are absolutely right about the Department's approach. It is about constraints not just on parking but on parking and the provision of alternatives. That is what will make it work.”

The exchange follows the publication last year of a report on residents’ parking schemes across the North, which promised to ‘give consideration to schemes to address the emerging pressures with on-street parking in the vicinity of the new Ulster University campus in Belfast and the Magee campus’.

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