Fine on Derrybeg Lane not fair

FIXED penalty notices imposed upon parkers along the Derrybeg lane in Newry are not fair.

This is the opinion of one motorist who upon returning to his car following a trip to Belfast found that he had been fined £30 by the PSNI for parking along the road which leads to Newry train station.

Although a warning was issued by police on social media regarding what the consequences may be for those who opt to deposit their cars along the road Eamonn, who is 62 and was one of several motorists who was fined, does not believe this served as sufficient communication from the authorities.

This is owing to several factors not in the least of which being according to Eamonn that not everyone is well versed in the use of social media.

“I only started using the train station since I got my bus pass." explained Eamonn. I came back last night and there was a ticket on the car.

“The car was parked on the Derrybeg Lane Bridge on the road leading up to the Newry train station.

"Everyone parks there. Every time I have used the station it has always been the case that there have been cars parked all the way along Derrybeg Lane. I use to travel under the bridge and wonder why all those cars were parked along it."This is unfair. I am not on social media, not everyone is.

I never use to own a smartphone and I don't have a Facebook profile, I do not get any notifications or anything like this and I am not into tec."According to Eamonn the unfairness of the situation is only further compounded by the fact that there exists no physical road infrastructure to visually designate that motorists are prohibited from parking their cars along Derrybeg Lane.

“Understand I am not disagreeing with the clamp down on illegal parking but if there had of been any notice whatsoever I would not have parked there."Because there are no yellow lines I did not think I was breaking any laws in this sense.

There were no double yellow lines with signs that said do not park here.If this was an issue They should have put up signs on either side of the bridge until they get something put in place like a yellow line going up either side of the road. I think it is unfair to commuters that signs are not put up in the interim until they get something sorted out."Even just a warning would have been enough.

My mum was dying last year in Daisy Hill. Overnight I stayed with her and I parked in one of the bays just directly in front of the hospital. When I came back there was a ticket but it was just a written warning.

That was it and I never parked there again.Even if there had been a sign in the station when you walk in that would say "you are not allowed to park there any more" end of story.

In a statement a PSNI spokesperson stated that they are aware of concerns that have been raised regarding the issue of parking along Derrybeg Lane

Police are aware of ongoing issues and concerns in relation to the Derrybeg Lane area of Newry, near the train station, with vehicles parking on both sides of the road and obstructing access to buses and lorries, as well as to pedestrians.

If there are no designated parking bays, you cannot park your vehicle on the bridge over the A1, or on either side of that road. In this case, vehicles parking on either side of the road has resulted in blocking at least one lane of traffic, forcing passing vehicles into the middle of the road. Road-users are advised that each lane should be kept completely free, so vehicles can pass by without having to give way, particularly given the size of the vehicles using this thoroughfare.

We are working to ensure that people park safely and will take appropriate action against any vehicle that is illegally parked or causing an obstruction.

As such, we have recently issued a number of fixed penalty notices in the area. However, parking concerns require a multi-agency approach and we will work closely with our statutory partners to help resolve these issues.

We want to remind road-users that obstructive parking can place other road-users and pedestrians at unnecessary risk and this is particularly true for those with sight impairments, mobility issues, wheelchair-users or parents with young children.

Any vehicles found to be illegally parked or causing an obstruction may result in the removal of the vehicle at the expense of the owner, a fixed penalty notice issued or the owner of the vehicle could be taken to court.