People need to know what they are getting with Bogside parking scheme, officials say

Derry Journal

Transcript

00:00You spoke about the importance of the Rugby Road scheme, I suppose, now being up and running and

00:03the lessons that can be learned from that. But I think it's equally, if not more important,

00:07to learn from the schemes that have been unsuccessful. You cited the Bogside scheme

00:13there in my constituency, which was torpedoed. There were over 200 objections. We have to

00:20understand what those objections were, what's at the centre of them, and how can they be overcome

00:25merely by reducing the scale or ambition of the scheme, by reducing that red line. I'll just ask

00:33a couple of questions, Chair, and then if the team can answer them all at the same time. I mean,

00:42that Bogside scheme that I'm talking about, there's been huge frustration in Derry and beyond. I'm

00:47sure that any other scheme or any work on any other scheme has been delayed until this nut is

00:54cracked. I'm glad to hear that now this isn't still the case, or certainly doesn't seem to be

01:00the case, if you can confirm that or not. The expansion of the university here in the city

01:05offers great, tremendous opportunities, but with that growth comes inevitable friction. So I'm glad

01:11that there is now a commitment from the department to look there. The expansion of the

01:16uni is long overdue, but so is a resident's parking scheme. Before expansion, but now the

01:23need will be more acute. Can I confirm, I suppose, and I think you've confirmed it yourself almost,

01:30David, that the zeal with which these schemes are now being approached are going to be approaches

01:35being driven more by climate considerations or obligations as opposed to residential amenity.

01:42The issue around displacement, that's a pretty obvious one, but is the consultation on schemes

01:49confined to within that red line? Or is there consultation with those beyond the red line who

01:56will inevitably be impacted by displacement? And then I think the one thing that we definitely

02:02have all learned from the schemes, whether successful or unsuccessful, is that these

02:08things don't happen quickly. So what is DFI doing in the interim in these areas to alleviate

02:18problems? I mean, we can't just have residents waiting for a scheme that may never come,

02:25so what work is DFI doing with other partners, with PSNI, for example, around enforcement,

02:31with the Ulster University in Derry and in Belfast, and crucially with TransLink to identify

02:40potential public transport solutions, to identify new routes and to look at, I suppose,

02:47parking ride opportunities as well. Thank you, Mark, for asking all your questions in one go.

02:52I appreciate that. So is the nut cracked? So we believe it is. So yes, there has definitely been

03:02a hesitancy to commit to any other schemes until we got the report published. We now have that

03:09published, and as Laura said, a team in place. Just in terms of the team, that team is transport

03:18policy, so that is going to determine the streamlining of the process and also the

03:24prioritisation. It's not just Laura and her team that then will deliver. So whenever we get it

03:30through that, here's the list, here's the ones that we think are viable, it will then go back

03:34to the traffic sections and the divisions actually to deliver. So it's not just looking at this

03:38individual team, and there has been work ongoing within the divisions receiving the long list of

03:46requests that have been there. So that bit hasn't stopped, and there has been some thinking done

03:52within the divisions in terms of whether this is a good location or not, which will help inform

03:58the work of Laura and her team. In terms of the climate question mark,

04:05everything that we do within DFI, in fact, everything that we do within departments

04:10needs that climate lens on it as well. So it is part, it's not our main driver,

04:15it's not our only driver, but it is definitely a very central plank in the argument of this.

04:21If we are going to achieve the reductions in emissions, we need to change our behaviours.

04:27Part of that is changing the fuels that our vehicles run on, but an equally important part

04:33of that is actually trying to minimise the number of journeys we have, and parking constraint

04:39and demand constraint is part and parcel of that. Now we need to be very careful that we don't be

04:43too brutal. We need to recognise that moving around is part and parcel of our economy.

04:48That's the way that economic activity and social activity takes place. So we do need to find those,

04:53as you rightly say, those other routes, whether it's through TransLink and making the public

04:59transport offer more attractive, more reliable as well, will be part and parcel of that.

05:05In terms of the red line consultation, particularly in our cities, I see that

05:11the transport plans are particularly important. So rather than just having consultation on the

05:17individual streets that we're going to constrain, the transport plan about how Belfast or how

05:23Derry, London Derry is actually going to work, and which areas are going to be targeted for the

05:29likes of these interventions, is actually, to me, the bigger and most important bit of that,

05:35because that sets that into context in exactly the same way as area plans or local development

05:41plans set out where our development is going to be. And so at a strategic level or at an arms

05:48link level, you can look at a particular settlement, and you can work out where development

05:52is going to be. And then the development control process is just working out the detail of what

05:56has already been established. So it's the same type of approach, set out the strategic approach

06:03within the transport plans. And then I think that should ease some of the issues in terms of the

06:09specific consultation. Because if you can point to this has already been accepted in the transport

06:15plan for a particular settlement, and now we're just worried about the detail, it changes the

06:20type of the conversation. And then your last point, just about PS9 enforcement and TransLink

06:25and other solutions. I can't give you an answer that says the whole of the department is focused

06:30on always looking for other solutions. As I said, trying to shift people away from private cars,

06:38part of that solution is by enforcement, whether that's through TAs or PS9. Part of that solution

06:45is by making public transport more accessible, more attractive, more affordable. All those

06:51things coming together as our way of actually making this work. So absolutely, we are looking

06:56for those. I can't give you examples of specifically where we can say we have introduced

07:04a bus because of the non-delivery of a residence parking scheme. You know, I can't go into that

07:08level detail. But in terms of actually the approach of the department, you're absolutely

07:14right. It's not just a constraint on parking, it's constraint on parking and providing an

07:19alternative that will actually make this thing work.

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