AQO 1409/22-27

Mr Nick Mathison
Alliance Party
Strangford

Tabled Date: 16/01/2025
Answered On Date: 27/01/2025
Priority Written: No

Question:
To ask the Minister for Infrastructure for an update on the proposed Park and Ride facility in Newtownards.

Answer:

Park and Ride is a key enabler to improving connections, increasing public transport use, promoting sustainability, and encouraging modal shift and active travel.

In line with climate change objectives, park & ride facilities provide citizens with improved accessibility to public transport network and therefore encourage its usage as an alternative to commuting by car, helping to drive down congestion and emissions, change travel patterns and protect our environment.

My Department has identified a list of priority Park and Ride sites, including a suitable site in Newtownards.

The preferred site at Newtownards is located at the former Ards Leisure Centre site with the potential for 450 vehicles. This site will also alleviate pressures on Dundonald Park & Ride which continues to operate over capacity.

The planning application for the Newtownards Park and Ride site was submitted in November 2023. Responses have been received from relevant statutory bodies and we are currently liaising, as appropriate, to any requests for clarifications.

Change will not be possible without decarbonising private cars. But we also need to provide attractive sustainable transport alternatives. Such as public transport, walking, wheeling, and cycling. Without these, our people, our cities and our towns will choke. People deserve better; a cleaner greener urban environment in which they can thrive.