Prices for off-street car parking in Derry to increase by 10p from February 1st

Prices for off-street car parking in the Derry City and Strabane District Council area are set to increase by 10 pence per hour from 01 February 2017.

The increases were agreed by members of Derry City and Strabane District Council at a recent Council meeting and comes as Council gives notice to change the car park tariffs pursuant to Article 13 of the Road Traffic Regulation (NI) Order 1997.

Kevin O’Connor, Head of Business with Derry City and Strabane District Council explained that the rationale for the increase is to alleviate the burden of additional car parking costs on the ratepayer, with a greater share of the cost and maintaining car parks transferring from the ratepayer to the users of the facilities.

He explained: “Council currently operates 15 paid car parks, providing 1042 spaces throughout the District. The tariffs for these car parks range from 20 pence to 50 pence in addition to the availability of four weekly, 12 weekly and quarterly season passes. Off-Street Car Park charging across Northern Ireland ranges from 20 pence to £1.20 per hour.

“Council members agreed to approve the increased tariffs and by doing so, the overall increased costs that are estimated at £25,434.48 for 2016/17 will ensure that these costs are covered by car parking users and will not impact on existing budgets.”

“Since the transfer of Off-Street Car Parking to Council in April 2015, Council has taken a number of innovative steps to ensure that the Car Parks maximise and benefit the local retailers in both Derry and Strabane. This year was the first year that Council introduced free parking on Sunday’sin November and December. Council is embarking on an overall Car Parking strategy and will evaluate the impact of the tariff changes, consulting with users, retailers and stakeholders throughout 2017”.

He added that the new charges, which are outlined below, will come into practice from 01 February and that signposts alerting the public to the new tariffs are being erected at the relevant car parks across the city and district.