Concerns raised over Royal Mail van parking in Armagh City

Councillor Thomas O’Hanlon has expressed frustration in relation to Royal Mail vans having to use on-street car parking spaces in Armagh city, due to a lack of dedicated parking facilities for Royal Mail vehicles.

The SDLP councillor for Armagh DEA raised this issue at Monday night’s (October 26) council meeting, commenting: “I know last month there was a note around discussions which Royal Mail were having with council around parking facilities on some of our lands.

“I was in Armagh City yesterday afternoon and seven Royal Mail vans were parked out on the street, including down in some of the areas in front of the Charlemont Hotel, where there have been notorious problems.

“This still hasn’t gone away. Is there any update from the discussions with Royal Mail?”

Head of Estates & Asset Management, Mark Halliday told the Armagh representative: “Yes, following committee approval for the licence agreement, everything’s been drafted and issued to Royal Mail, and we’re following that up to get that signed to allow the car parking to commence.”

In correspondence to ABC Council dated October 8, Royal Mail stated: “We have been working closely with the council to secure additional off-site parking close to Armagh Delivery Office.

“The proposed licence has received the necessary internal approval, and we have requested the final documentation from the council, so the agreement can be formally completed.

“We believe that this will provide a longer-term solution to the pressure on on-street parking around the Delivery Office, while helping to reduce the impact on nearby residents and businesses.”

Councillors Joy Ferguson and Ian Wilson also called on Royal Mail to stop using the new plaza at the corner of Scarva Street and Downshire Place in Banbridge as a car park.

The Banbridge DEA representatives had raised this issue at a previous meeting, and correspondence received by ABC Council from Royal Mail, dated October 8, failed to address this particular point.

Speaking at Monday night’s (October 26) ABC Council meeting, Councillor Ferguson (Alliance) commented: “That night in the chamber I [had] raised about Scarva Street plaza in Banbridge, and it seems to have been left off this letter from Royal Mail.

“There has been no mention of it, and it wasn’t just me that raised this in the chamber, there were other councillors who raised this issue.

“And given the lack of what seems to be preparedness from Royal Mail, I just feel that it’s appropriate that this chamber follows up with another letter to ask for an answer to that which was queried on that particular night.

“So, just for clarity, that was the Scarva Street plaza in Banbridge. It was a parking issue.”

ABC Lord Mayor, Councillor Mary O’Dowd indicated the matter would be duly followed up.

Echoing Councillor Ferguson’s concerns, Councillor Wilson (DUP) stated: “That issue with parking on the plaza in Scarva Street in Banbridge has been completely ignored.

“And just on that point, if any of our officers are out looking at the state of that area, there are marks now, with oil obviously leaking from vehicles on the plaza.

“[Given] the amount of money that has been spent by this council and DfI in Banbridge town itself, I think we need some sort of physical barriers to stop vehicles being parked on that.

“We can’t invest millions of pounds for a community facility to be absolutely destroyed. So, I think that we need to be looking at some physical barriers being put up to stop vehicles using this as some convenient parking space.”