£130k parking upgrade to deliver contactless options for Derry drivers
Council approves £130,000 upgrade to solar-powered, card-friendly technology as tech support expires for aging coin-only meters
Derry City and Strabane District Council has greenlit plans to replace the majority of Pay & Display machines at council-run car parks to allow for cashless payment options.
Members of July’s Business and Community also approved a report on the feasibility of a clamp and removal service in cases of multiple unpaid Penalty Charge Notices (PCN).
Council currently oversees 30 off-street car parks, 16 of which are Pay and Display (P&D), with enforcement provided by NSL Ltd (Marston Holdings) since April 2024.
The current P&D machines have been in operation for 20 years, much longer than their expected lifespan of 7-to-15 years, Councillors were told at the meeting.
Due to their age, availability of replacement parts for the existing machines have greatly reduced, and Marston Holdings will withdraw technical support for them in December.
A report brought before members detailed how for the 2025-26 year, income from Council car parks was £1.378million, with around half of this coming from cash payments – £652,000. A further £521,000 came from payments via the parking App, and contactless payments more than doubled to almost £50,000 at the few car parks which offer a contactless option. PCN fine income meanwhile was over £155,000.
Council’s Head of Business, Kevin O’Connor, said all P&D machines, except three at Bishops Street car park and one at William Street car park, only accept coins as payment and are “not meeting changing consumer habits by providing flexible payment options”.
“Since the contactless machines were installed in Bishop Street and William Street the number of contactless transactions has increased significantly,” he noted. “The replacement ANPR P&D machines will improve the customer experience with easier, more flexible payment options [as] drivers will continue to have a choice between coin and cashless payment.”
Mr O’Connor said DfI is currently upgrading on-street P&D machines in Belfast, Lisburn and Newry and the new machines will use pay-by-plate technology to improve enforcement efficiency, and the same technology is being proposed for Council’s off-street car parks.
He noted a £130,000 replacement cost, but said the new machines will be solar-powered and reduce the number of cash collections required.
He also confirmed users will still be able to use the RingGo app to pay for parking.
Mr O’Connor added: “We’ve got that budget within our repairs, renewals, and maintenance budget, so that will allow all of our paid car parks to upgraded witt the latest technology around contactless payments, but will also enable us for a future, should we go down the route of total contactless parking.”
Members were also asked to approve a report on the introduction of a clamp and removal service, similar to one being considered by Belfast City Council, for repeat offenders who have three or more outstanding PCNs.
SDLP councillor Sean Mooney referenced a table within the report, which highlighted that just 26 UK registered vehicles in the district accounted for £14,850 in unpaid PCNs.
“There is one with 12 outstanding tickets,” he noted. “I think if the vehicle was clamped it’s a much more visceral representation of the intention of this council; we will be pursuing a much mor stringent policy towards offenders who are getting tickets and not paying them.”