Northern Area Plan 2016
Strategic Plan Framework: Transportation (Transportation Strategy) (Page 2 of 2)

Most journeys involve some walking, and in urban areas walking is an important alternative to the car. The main focus of measures aimed at making it easier to walk will be dealt with in the Sub-Regional Transport Plan, but the Area Plan includes a number of specific measures which will contribute to this objective. Roads Service will continue to provide:

Cycling is an economical, environmentally friendly and healthy means of transport. It provides a realistic alternative to the car for short journeys. The Department will, through the period of the Plan, set local objectives and targets that will contribute to the targets to increase cycle use set by the NI Cycling Strategy. The main focus will be through the Sub-Regional Transport Plan, but the Area Plan includes a number of specific measures which will contribute to the targets. The Department will also co-operate with Sustrans and local partnerships to:

The provision of car parking facilities to serve centres of population must be viewed in the light of the Department’s Regional Development Strategy, which aims to encourage the use of public transport as well as other modes of transport. The Department’s policy aims to provide a more efficient use of town centre land, an improvement in the urban environment, better traffic flows and greater safety for road users. The operation of this policy implies the need for the provision of car park management measures to meet local demand.

A priority is to ensure the most efficient use of existing spaces by their effective management, so as to ensure that short-stay spaces are available in those car parks, and where appropriate, streets, convenient to town centres. To this end charging will be maintained in busier town centre car parks, and where appropriate, the use of charging will be expanded or introduced. On-street charging will also be considered as a management tool where appropriate. The operation of car parks will also support the transportation strategy of reducing travel by car by discouraging long stay parking by commuters in the town centre car parks.

The Department issued “Parking Enforcement in Northern Ireland – a consultation document on proposals to Decriminalise Parking Offences” in August 2003. The primary objective in introducing decriminalised parking enforcement (DPE) is to reduce the impact on traffic congestion and improve highway and pedestrian safety, by reducing incidences of illegally parked vehicles. The introduction of DPE will also allow the Department to focus on the urban environment through the introduction of resident’s parking schemes. The current timetable is for a DPE Order to be published in mid-2005.

A Car Parking Strategy has been prepared for the Department, which will inform the consideration of car parking issues, both on and off street, in Limavady, Coleraine, Portrush, Portstewart, Ballycastle, and Ballymoney.

This Strategy anticipates that by the end of the Plan period, if all proposed development materialises, the present parking provisions in Limavady, Portrush, Portstewart, Ballycastle, and Ballymoney, will be sufficient to meet normal demand, whereas there will be a shortfall in the overall parking capacity in Coleraine. This shortfall will be largely provided for by appropriate development of significant development opportunity sites identified in the Plan.

Within each town centre, developers seeking planning permission will be required to provide operational car parking, and will be expected to demonstrate that their premises can be serviced adequately. In addition, developers may be asked to provide non-operational parking to the standards indicated in PPS3: Access, Movement and Parking.

Alternatively, within a town centre, where a development would normally require the provision of additional transportation infrastructure, including car parking and/or improvements in public transport services identified through a Transport Assessment, contributions from developers may be sought in lieu of their direct provision.

For all developments outside town centres, parking standards to PPS 3 will be applied.