Northern Area Plan 2016
Moyle District: Ballycastle Parking

There are two distinct areas in Ballycastle, the retail/commercial area based around Ann Street, The Diamond, and Castle Street, and the sea front / Harbour area. There are a total of approximately 890 parking spaces available for public use in Ballycastle, of which 360 (40%) are on-street. Most of these on-street spaces are unrestricted, that is they have no time limit applied to them, while only 100 are restricted to ‘1 hour in any 2 hours’ and are well used for short-stay parking. This level of parking provision is generally adequate to cope with the normal level of demand for most of the year, and for normal retail uses, but pressure on parking spaces from tourists and daytrippers is highest during July and August.

The Ann Street and Castle Street areas remain the most popular parking destinations, where the levels of on-street parking and servicing of adjacent properties, on occasions in contravention of the regulations, can cause disruption to the flow of traffic into and through the town. The designation of “loading bays” could help to facilitate servicing and reduce the level of double parking.

Most of the off-street car parks generally operate under capacity, in particular Castle Street and Fairhill Street Car Parks. Castle Street car park is used to capacity on only a few occasions a year. Ann Street car park is the exception and is the most heavily used car park all year round. An appropriate level of parking charge will be considered, and this will help to displace medium/long stay parkers to the other free car parks, releasing spaces for short stay visitors and shoppers.

In accordance with the Department of Regional Developments policy to cater primarily for short-stay parkers in town centres, the objective is to reduce the number of unrestricted spaces in Ballycastle. A more structured and effective enforcement and management regime, to include improved signage, will be put in place following the introduction of Decriminalised Parking Enforcement (DPE). This which will also allow the consideration of “Residents Parking” issues where appropriate. Even if all proposed development materialises, there is unlikely be a shortfall in the overall parking capacity by the end of the Plan period, apart from a limited number of exceptional cases during the summer season. However, parking supply and demand will be regularly reviewed in the light of the implementation of these proposals and the effects of DPE, and action taken as appropriate.