More tickets issued on one NI road than in four towns
ALMOST one-tenth of all parking tickets issued in Belfast in the last six months were handed out to drivers on a single city centre road, new figures show.
Between January and June almost 1,800 penalty charge notices (PCNs) were handed out on the Lisburn Road, which is, yet again, our most ticketed thoroughfare.
In the past six months a total of 18,127 parking fines were issued in Belfast alone, while there were 43,493 PCNs across Northern Ireland as a whole.
The data, which was released by the Department for Infrastructure, reveal that no penalties were, however, issued to drivers in 12 towns.
The locations which escaped were Ahoghill, Armagh, Ballykelly, Castlewellan, Cullybackey, Dromore, Gilford, Kesh, Newtownstewart, Portballintrae, Richhill and Tandragee.
With 18,127, Belfast boasts the highest number of tickets issued, while Newry, its closest rival and the province’s second most ticketed destination, lays claim to 3,612 PCNs so far this year.
Figures obtained by the Belfast Telegraph from the Department for Infrastructure (DFI) show that up to June there were 1,761 PCNs issued on the Lisburn Road, where traffic attendants are most prolific.
More parking tickets were handed out on the south Belfast street than the whole of Coleraine (749), Strabane (464), Portrush (132) and Dungannon (411) put together.
A DFI spokeswoman said the objective was to discourage illegal parking. “The department would of course prefer that those parking in our towns and cities park legally, as to do otherwise has knock-on impacts for many more people trying to get around both by car and on public transport,” she added.
The five most ticketed Belfast streets were: Lisburn Road (1,761), Chichester Street (746), Stranmillis Road (631), Ormeau Road (340) and Wellington Place (317). Also making the top 10 were: Adelaide Street (314), Falls Road (294), Grosvenor Road (277), Donegall Street (276) and High Street (275).
The Department for Regional Development’s TransportNI wing takes responsibility for the enforcement of most parking restrictions. On-the-ground enforcement is provided by TransportNI’s contractor, currently NSL Services Group, which employs the wardens.
Each parking ticket costs drivers £90 — or £45 if it is paid within 14 days. The Department said that up to June, 43,493 PCNs were for on-street parking, while 17,486 PCNs were for off-street parking.