Cusack claims Magee neighbours ‘blocked into their homes’ due to students’ ‘inconsiderate parking’
Derry City and Strabane District Council will send a letter to Ulster University, requesting ‘immediate action’ on student parking in the vicinity of Magee Campus.
At September’s Full Council Meeting, independent councillor Shauna Cusack said residents of areas close to Magee have been ‘blocked into their homes’ due to students’ ‘inconsiderate parking’ during the recent Freshers’ Week.
She warned many residents couldn't access their homes, with elderly people needing to avoid buses and walk to their houses with shopping due to the high number of parked cars.
“This happens every single year. We’re tired of hearing it year in and year out, and nobody is ignorant of the fact,” Councillor Cusack said.
“What if there's an accident [or] an emergency? Emergency services can't get up.
“If there's a fire, you know, the fire engines can't get up.
“All these considerations have been gone over and over, time and time again, and yet we're still in the same situation years later.
“Residents have asked that we contact the university, the PSNI, the traffic wardens [and] our own wardens, and have them regularly patrol the area and take action when there's somebody who's either parked illegally, blocking an area or causing a nuisance.”
Sinn Féin councillor Grace Uí Niallais said: “We need to be keeping on this issue for the next couple of weeks.
“The community safety wardens have said that it has been a very busy couple of weeks in terms of noise, parking and different issues, so it's just about continuous engagement between ourselves and all the relevant bodies.”
SDLP councillor Catherine McDaid said: “We want to get the university to 10,000 students but the infrastructure's not there.”
She added: “My experience, working in the university, is that the majority of students who attend don't live, and commute, so we need the infrastructure.
“We need the housing, but we also need more parking and we need better transport in and out of the city.
“It's a bigger problem than just [parking].
“It's just that it's live and emotive at the minute, because they're all buzzing and they're staying over for a night to go out.
“But it's about trying to find the balance, because whenever we're clamping down on students all the time is it inviting to them?”