New parking charges in Newry

SnowyOwl_2

I was very surprised to read in the local paper that The Quays shopping centre in Newry, ie the centre with Sainsbury's and the cinema in it, is now charging for parking, 24 hours a day! It costs £1 per hour, though you can get this back if you go to the cinema and are back in your car within three hours, or if you spend £10 at Sainsbugs and are back at your car within an hour. This is apparently part of the overall strategy to improve traffic flow around Newry, especially that coming from the South.

The Buttercrane shopping centre is (still) free, if you can find a parking space in it at all.

The Quays is privately owned, so whoever is collecting these fees will be laughing all the way to the bank at shoppers' expense.

dsab

The problem is that this might slow down the traffic flow from Dublin road even more, as queues will build up at the entrance of the shopping centre on busy days.

And the other problem is that the Buttercrane Centee decided to not implement Parking Charges before April 2010, so people will try to park there or somewhere along the canals for around 30p an hour.

Very strange move by the Quays Shopping Centre. But said that I know hardly anyone from Newry who still shops there. Most people I know in Newry drive up to Banbridge or Lisburn to do their weekly shopping.

bingo_bango

I find it strange that they have cited traffic calming as a cause of the charging, when it's going to have the opposite effect. And do they really think that someone driving from Kildare is going to sniff at paying £3-4 for parking?

As dsab says, this is going to escalate the problem, not relieve it. I have avoided coming in the Dublin road for as long as I can remember now because of the traffic. I can understand the Quays wanting to make a few extra quid, but I don't believe this is the correct model to use. As for validation by the cinema and Sainsburys.....how the hell did they get dispensation for validation and no-one else did?

At least the cowboys from ECP will no longer be handing out random 'penalty notices'. I'm still waiting for them to chase the last one I got off them

SnowyOwl_2

I think the theory is that people have been using The Quays to park up while they shop elsewhere, thus meaning that there aren't enough spaces for customers. What a load of piddle! The Quays is just one car park out of several in Newry. It so happens it's run privately and therefore the management of it can do what it likes. Of course people will park there and shop at The Quays and then cross the road to the Buttercrane, and elsewhere, then return to their car only when they are going home. I agree that this will add to the chaos around the Dublin Rd rather than ease it. The Christmas greed and madness has already started it seems.

snowmen

well, it will be good for us up at sprucefield anyway!
half an hour up the road and no parking charges plus loads of parking spaces
no brainer for the customers coming up from the south really once they know how near and easy it is to get to sprucefield rather than battling with the awful newry one-way system!

SnowyOwl_2

I live in the Newry area and have on several occasions driven to either Banbridge, or to Sprucefield, for my groceries. I do like Sprucefield, though only manage to get half way around Sainsbury's before I get fed up and leave. There are quite a few southern accents amongst Sprucefield customers already. Where am I going to go next if the invasion spreads that far up???