Official Report: Minutes of Evidence

The Chairperson (Mr Buckley): From the Department for Infrastructure, I welcome, via StarLeaf, Mr David Porter, director of engineering, and Mr Stephen Wood, head of the transport planning and modelling unit. I ask you to brief the Committee. The session will be reported by Hansard.

Mr David Porter (Department for Infrastructure): Thank you, Chair and members, for the opportunity to talk to the Committee about controlled parking zones (CPZs).

I am director of engineering, and part of my responsibility is the parking enforcement unit. I will set the scene and will be happy to answer any operational questions about how CPZs and, indeed, our wider parking enforcement service operate. I am joined by Stephen Wood from DFI's transportation policy side, who will, hopefully, be able to address any issues you have about policy context and how we may be taking forward how CPZs and parking enforcement fit in with the wider desires of the Minister and Department to improve our economy and our places.

I will take our briefing paper as read. However, I want to draw out one or two points. We have had a lot of interaction, particularly with Lisburn and Newry, about the operation of CPZs. There are a few points that I picked up from that interaction as well as some of the correspondence. It would be worthwhile setting out the context.

There are three controlled parking zones in Northern Ireland. The first was introduced in Belfast in 1987. Two further CPZs were introduced in 2008 in Newry and Lisburn. The Lisburn CPZ was introduced in response to Lisburn City Council, which approached the then Department for Regional Development (DRD) and asked for a CPZ to deal with problems with on-street parking. DRD worked with the council, the chamber of commerce and the city centre manager in formulating how the CPZ would work. It was introduced on 28 July 2008.

In Newry, it was a similar pattern. The CPZ, also introduced there in 2008, was in response to issues raised by councillors who had identified parking problems in the centre of Newry that needed to be addressed. DRD worked with the Newry city centre management committee and the chamber of commerce to formulate how the CPZ would work. That CPZ became operational on 1 September 2008.

We sometimes hear that the CPZs were done to people and that there was no consultation or interaction. I thought it worthwhile to lay out that little bit of context about how they were requested through the Department and the collaborative working that brought them into play.

Another point that I have heard a number of times is about unfairness, particularly in relation to section 75 and some of the defined characteristics in section 75, particularly relating to disabled people. I want to give you a bit of assurance on that. CPZs are seen as a particular benefit for disabled people in relation to section 75, so there is no issue with section 75. I say that because a disabled blue badge holder gets an additional advantage in those areas. They are facilitated. Their position and condition is recognised, and they are facilitated, because they are allowed to park for free in a CPZ. I need to clarify that they are allowed to park for free on-street. If there happens to be an off-street car park in a CPZ, that is a council facility, and there is a slightly different rule. A blue badge holder still has to pay in an off-street car park, but, on-street in CPZs, a blue badge holder does not have to pay and has free parking.

The last thing that I will cover before I hand over to Stephen is that I have also heard that the same effect or aim can be achieved by different means. You do not need to charge or to have a CPZ. You can have a different way of ensuring that there is a turnover of spaces and good behaviour on-street, with no inappropriate behaviour. That is right; you can achieve that by different means. However, you also need to take into account the effectiveness of different measures. In our traffic engineers' toolkit, there are various means of addressing parking problems. Where there is a particular problem with people parking in front of an access point, they may introduce an I-bar or single or double yellow lines. They can have disabled parking bays or loading bays. They can also potentially introduce a CPZ.

In the range that I have outlined, you need to recognise that there is a sort of hierarchy of control, but, equally, there is a hierarchy of compliance. We know that, if you put down an I-bar, which is an advisory road marking, in some cases, it is complied with and, in other cases, it is not. We know that, if we put in a single yellow line, it is complied with in some cases, but, if we put in a double yellow line, we tend to get more compliance. If we put in a charged CPZ, we get even higher levels of compliance.

Yes, you can achieve your parking desires about the turnover of spaces and the control of that in different ways, but you also need to recognise that there is a hierarchy of compliance within that. CPZs are very effective measures. There is a high degree of compliance. People understand that, when they use that facility, they have to comply with the rules or there will be a penalty. Because of that, people tend not to overstay their parking event. Therefore, there is a turnover of spaces, and that helps not only with the movement of traffic but with supporting the economy.

There is also a resource efficiency with CPZs. They are easier to manage from a parking enforcement point of view. It is a practical issue. If you put yourself in the red coat and are walking down a route on your beat in a CPZ, your job is to check whether the owners of each of those vehicles have paid for their parking. When you check that and see that someone has paid, you move on to the next vehicle. If the vehicle owner has not paid for their parking, you issue a ticket. Compare that with a street that has a plate that says, "One hour", and no one returns within one hour. In that case, traffic attendants (TAs) do not know how long a vehicle has been there before they arrived, so they have to patrol that street and record all those vehicles. If it is a one-hour waiting restriction, they have to come back in one hour and do that same exercise to identify the vehicles that are non-compliant. There is a huge efficiency in a CPZ. It is much easier to manage the parking. We get not only a higher level of compliance but a more straightforward task in terms of how that is managed.

I will hand over to Stephen, who will draw attention to a couple of the policy issues in the briefing. We will then be happy to attempt to answer questions.

The Chairperson (Mr Buckley): I ask Stephen to be brief and succinct, because the Committee is pushed for time. We have other business to attend to.

Mr Stephen Wood (Department for Infrastructure): I will be, Chair. Good morning. Thanks for the opportunity. I hope that I will be able to capture most of the issues in questions. I will simply highlight a couple of points in our briefing paper that suggest that, in policy terms, we are both trying to do the same thing, which is to make our town centres attractive to people and commercially viable and so on.

Lisburn city centre master plan's stated aim is to encourage visitors to leave their cars on the edge of the centre in existing multistorey car parks, which will allow for a rationalisation of car parking in the city centre streets. That is entirely in line with where we are now. CPZs and parking charges do that. Similarly, Newry, Mourne and Down District Council's emerging regeneration plan states that it is trying to make Newry more open, more visitor-friendly, less car-dependent and, therefore, more sustainable for future generations.

I will stop at that point. I hope that I will be able to answer your questions.

The Chairperson (Mr Buckley): Thank you both. David highlighted the process of deciding CPZs and the consultation that is involved. Is traffic measurement taken into account in the consideration of CPZs? If that is the case and going through the consultation that you talked about in relation to Lisburn and Newry, is there a built-in review over time of how it works? I am confused about how the Department responsible for working with towns and cities to improve parking infrastructure is so out of step with what we hear from businesses in Newry and Lisburn. Is there a reason for that? Is there a built-in review every few years? Is recourse available? A one-size-fits-all policy is not always the best road to go down.

Mr Wood: The Lisburn local development plan will come relatively soon. There will be a combined process to create a local parking strategy. Parking responsibilities, occupancies and provisions are shared between the council and the Department in terms of on-street and off-street. Wider aspects and aspirations will be considered for the area in the local development plan. That is when we will undertake a review of parking. That is required by planning policy in the strategic planning policy statement (SPPS) document. It is undoubtedly on the cards. Newry is similar when it comes to process, although, at the moment, its timescale for local development plans is further behind.

Mr Porter: That provides good context. They will be reviewed, as Stephen said, under the local development plans. That is the opportunity. I am not sure that I accept that we are out of step. I entirely accept that there are different views on the CPZs. From a practical point of view, nobody likes to have to pay for something like that if there could be a free alternative. However, when you look at the effectiveness of the measures and what we are trying to do in city centres to make them attractive places, you see that we need to address the overdominance of private vehicles. We need to make our city centres attractive places that people can access. They must be able to park in appropriate places and enjoy the facilities — shopping, coffee shops or whatever it happens to be — without being overburdened by cars in that space.

The Chairperson (Mr Buckley): I will move now to questions from other members.

Ms Kimmins: Thanks, David and Stephen, for your briefing. Obviously, as a Newry representative, I have been raising the issue consistently and have met the Newry business improvement district (BID) and Lisburn Chamber of Commerce. We have also been engaging with the councils. You will not be surprised to hear that I still disagree with much of what has been said in the correspondence from the Department. I will be clear from the outset: neither the Newry BID nor Lisburn Chamber of Commerce has said that it is looking for free parking. All they have asked for is a review or even for a pilot to be put in place to see whether things can work better. That is based on the feedback from local businesses, and I have said that at every opportunity.

We talk about unfairness, and David mentioned section 75. I will put that unfairness in context: from a Newry perspective, we are talking about overenforcement and overzealous enforcement. During lockdown, 4,090 parking tickets were issued in Newry. Derry, despite having a much larger population, had the same number. My interpretation of that is that it is disproportionate and has to be looked at.

It is one thing to say that we have to ensure that we reduce car dependency, for instance — neither Newry BID nor Lisburn Chamber would disagree with that — but the infrastructure is not in place to encourage people out of cars and on to bikes or public transport. I can certainly speak for Newry in that regard. We have to strike a balance.

David, you referred to the review of parking. From speaking to the council, I know that that is being done, but, as you mentioned, there is a delay for Newry and it will be at least two years. I do not think that there is anything to fear from a pilot. We are 13 years on from the introduction of the CPZs. The Department needs to seriously consider that, and that consideration could then feed into the parking strategy. Will you comment on that before I move to my next question, please?

Mr Porter: You said that we have to strike a balance, and I could not agree more. I do not want you to think that I am saying that we do not want cars or that cars need to be banished. We recognise that not everyone in Northern Ireland can avail themselves of public transport and that cars play a part in transportation in Northern Ireland, but we need to strike a balance. We need to accommodate cars in appropriate places and not have an overdominance of them, particularly in city centres. We need to make the city centres attractive places for people to come to use the facilities and have the experience of the high street that people talk about now. It is no longer about just shopping; it is about the experience, meeting people, the coffee shops and the other facilities. City centres will work better, be more attractive and be more appealing if there is not an overdominance of cars in the area. We are not saying, "Ban cars altogether"; it is about getting cars into an appropriate place. We need to move to encourage more off-street parking and less city centre parking, but that does not mean that vehicles should not be facilitated somewhere. That is where the local development plan is hugely important. That will be a real driver for change.

Mr Wood: Only 10% of parking spaces in central Newry are charged on-street. There are lots of free parking opportunities in the off-street car parks. We do not expect people coming in from villages and residential areas that are not served by public transport and do not have good infrastructure to walk, cycle or use public transport. We expect people to park where it is convenient and walk to their final destination. Where they cannot, they can take advantage of their blue badges and so on. It is not, to our mind, that there are not opportunities or that we are trying to be anti-car; we are just trying to maintain as much space as possible in the town for everyone to enjoy as an amenity.

Ms Kimmins: I appreciate that. That is what we all want. My representation is based on the experience of people on the ground, and I certainly do not think that there is a balanced approach at the minute. The level of ticketing in Newry is severe, and that is no exaggeration. We have been raising that for a long time, even prior to this.

I do not think that what is being proposed is unreasonable. As I said, Newry BID and Lisburn Chamber have talked about a pilot scheme in which one hour is free and payment is required after that. I do not know what the Department has to fear from that. If the outcome were to be that it did not work, at least it will have been tried and tested.

I am yet to see the evidence that CPZs work. I have asked the Department on countless occasions for facts and evidence to substantiate the claim that CPZs bring benefits, and that has not been forthcoming. Yes, we have had the rationale for it, but I am not seeing statistics and figures.

Stephen, you said that only 10% of the car parking in Newry is on-street, but it is on the main shopping streets in Newry. That is where you want people to be able to run into the butcher's and pick up what they want, and one hour of free parking would enable them to do that. Two weeks ago, I was contacted by somebody who ran into the butcher's for five minutes and came out to find a parking ticket. That keeps the traffic flowing, but the problem is that people say that they will not park there. If they need to stay a bit longer than two hours, they are limited, so they go to out-of-town shopping, the bigger retail parks and places like that. That is crippling town centres and our city centre in Newry.

As we come out of COVID, the proposal has been put forward to try to help businesses to recover. If it does not work, it does not work, but the Department needs to consider it.

The Chairperson (Mr Buckley): You can come back with a brief comment, please, David or Stephen. Then, because time is tight, we have to move on to another member.

Mr Porter: The Department considered that. The practicalities do not work, largely because of what I described earlier about TAs having to cover the street twice. How do you know, then, whether you have an effective service? Basically, unless you have TAs on the street continually, having one hour free means the removal of the CPZ, and an overdominance of traffic attendants on the street would not send out the right message. Please be assured that we considered that. The Minister considered that, and, for the COVID recovery, she would prefer that measures other than the removal of parking charges were adopted to make town and city centres more attractive to people.

Mr Boylan: Thank you very much for your presentation. I have two questions. First, what evidence can you provide that CPZs help with traffic management?

Mr Porter: It is clear that parking enforcement in general helps with traffic management by stopping inappropriate parking. Parking enforcement is not just about traffic flow; it is about those who use the pavements, and traffic enforcement applies to them as well. That has an impact on people who use our towns and cities. As I said, evidence shows the level of compliance with CPZs and how effective our management of them is. Those strands come together to demonstrate that, while CPZs are not liked by everybody, they are an effective measure.

Mr Wood: On a general point, in controlled parking zones, all spaces in a defined area are controlled in some shape or form. It is stated in standard practice that that deters traffic from circulating around the one-way systems, looking for any odd free spaces that might be available. That is a common engineering practice.

Mr Boylan: One paragraph in your briefing paper states:

Newry BID informs us that a review of the CPZ scheme was carried out back in 2009. Is there any information about the terms of reference, reviews or any outcomes of all of that? Can you outline any of that for the Committee? You say that you will work with councils and others to address some of those issues.

Mr Porter: We will. It is largely Stephen's team, along with many of the staff in our division, who will work with the councils to develop parking strategies. We are keen to do that because, as we said, we want a balance to be struck in towns so that we can facilitate a healthy and attractive city centre.

The disposal schedules in the Civil Service mean that some of the historical evidence is not available. That is purely because of the date of that evidence. We can find out about the 2009 review. If I am correct, that was a price review rather than a review of the CPZs. I will double-check that for you.

Mr Boylan: Thank you.

Mr Delargy: I find it strange that local authorities still have to get a decision from the Minister before they can make fairly minor changes to car parking charges in the city centre of Lisburn or Newry. Off-street parking has been given to councils, but on-street parking still lies with the Department for Infrastructure. On that point, I wonder what the Department has done about exploring the transfer of the powers for on-street parking to councils.

Mr Porter: That was examined through the review of public administration, and the decisions were taken at that time. As far as I am aware, no further substantive work on the transfer of further functions has been done. I am not sure that many councils are knocking on our door to ask whether they can take on on-street parking: it is not without its headaches. Hopefully, that answers your question.

Mr Delargy: Will you update us on what the decision was at that time?

Mr Porter: During the review of public administration, as we moved from 26 councils to 11 councils, it was decided that a range of functions would move to the new super-councils, as they were dubbed at that time. One of those functions was off-street parking.

Mr Delargy: OK, but can you give us an update? You have said that communication started at that point, but it was never continued. I totally understand what you said about the councils, but, from your end, what further avenues of exploration were open to you to broaden that debate?

Mr Porter: I see where you are coming from. In some respects, it is not necessarily about ownership or responsibility for on-street or off-street parking; in some ways, that is irrelevant. What is relevant — I think that this is the point that you are getting to — is working together to formulate a parking strategy that works for everybody. Stephen has outlined how that is part and parcel of the local development plan process. A local development plan says, "Here is how a region or area will develop. Here is where the development boundary will be. Here are the lands that will be zoned to facilitate future development". The parking strategy is a supporting document. Clearly, that will not be particularly interested in the outskirts of a town. Those largely residential or industrial areas do not have a significant parking problem. The real focus will be on the core commercial centres of our settlements, particularly our cities, and the shared responsibility for on- and off-street parking means that the Department and councils will work together on that. It is not about who is responsible; rather, it is about working together to pull together an agreed parking strategy that will support the local development plan.

Mr Delargy: I understand that, and that is the point that we want to reach, where there is a joined-up approach and strategic thinking. From what you say, though, I gather that that has not been the case and there has not been a joined-up approach. What will the Department do about that?

Mr Wood: We also work with councils by picking up on any actions that came out of the intensive and extensive community planning process that all councils undertook. That is very much about issues that arise for communities, businesses and so on. Across Northern Ireland, we pick up any actions from those plans. Parking and CPZs did not come up in any of those, and that is largely why we are content that the local development process that Dave outlined, when there is a complete review of how a town and district want to go forward and shape themselves, is the appropriate time to do that. That is what we are looking to.

Mr Delargy: Thank you.

The Chairperson (Mr Buckley): David and Stephen, thank you very much for briefing the Committee this morning.

Mr Wood: Thank you.

Mr Porter: Thank you, Chair. Thanks, all.