Parking and loading bay proposals to be brought to Derry and Strabane Council

Sinn Féin MLA Pádraig Delargy said there has already been ‘positive progress’ in the city centre following ongoing engagement with the local authority.

The Foyle MLA stated: “In recent weeks I have held a series of meetings with constituents, businesses and Council to see what can be done to make our city centre more accessible.

"I’m glad that by working closely together, proposals will soon be brought before Council to do just that. The three key pillars of this are: protecting parking spaces for road users, increasing the number of disabled parking spaces and introducing a loading bay for local businesses.

"We have been inundated with concerns around the accessibility of this area and have received overwhelmingly positive feedback in relation to these proposals.”

The Foyle MLA spoke of the gridlock regularly evident in the city centre at busy times and the difficulty this presents to local businesses trying to get goods in and out out.

"Anyone driving in the area will know the difficulty of getting past lorries during peak delivery times - this simply isn’t a sustainable situation in a busy city centre. Both road users and businesses deserve a dedicated answer to this perennial problem, one provided by our proposal.

"The current parking arrangements amplify this and provide additional difficulties for blue badge holders who currently have to park further and further away from the city centre due to the lack of disabled bays.

"This was another cornerstone of our work to improve the area by increasing the number of spaces within the Diamond to make our city centre accessible to all.’

"What has been clear throughout this process is that things need to change and that this collective piece of work allows our city to be an increasingly attractive place for locals, tourists and businesses.

"This is another positive step for our city centre and for our city. This solution works for everyone and I am very hopeful that it will be implemented in the coming months,” said Mr. Delargy.

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