Anderson welcomes clarity on St Patrick’s Day parking

It follows the Foyle MLA raising the issue during the summer with the Minster calling on her to look at the issue of differences of approach to car parking charges on Bank and Public Holidays.

She made her request after a constituent was fined for parking their car in a local car park on St Patrick’s Day.

The Foyle MLA said: “There are currently ten such holidays throughout the year but only half of those days are free parking which is leading to a lot of confusion.

“I was contacted by a constituent who worked in the city centre and found themselves in such a situation getting a Penalty Charge Notice for using one of these car parks on St Patrick’s Day which the majority of people in the city would have thought was a free holiday day.

“I took up this case with the Department for Infrastructure and they have said that while there are ten bank and public holidays in the North , the parking legislation only specifies to Easter Monday, 12th and 13th July (or days in lieu) and 25th and 26th December (or days in lieu), as non-charging days. January 1st (or day in lieu) has also been included as a non-charging day.

“I believe this is an issue that clearly needed to be looked at so I welcome the news that it has been resolved.

“The current imbalance in what are deemed as official Bank and Public Holidays is placing anyone who uses these car parks in a state of confusion which could ultimately result in them losing out financially to a fine.

“We don’t want to see city centre workers, people who live adjacent to car parks and have to use them or tourists visiting our wonderful city heading home with a fine in their pocket.