Does Armagh have a parking epidemic?
Armagh city centre appears to be in the middle of a parking madness epidemic with drivers struggling to find a space to park their cars. It's an issue that's driving everyone around the bend, with precarious parking situations leading to frustration and anger amongst drivers, city residents and business owners.
From cars parking on the double yellow lines on Scotch Street while shoppers “run in for two minutes”, to people squeezing into spaces that are far too small. It can all get a bit hectic!
Let’s not mention the contentious disabled parking bay directly in-front of the Armagh I office! We see it at least once a day… blue badge-less people parking in this space clearly marked ‘disabled’ while they run an errand. What makes it all the more annoying is the excuses we hear to the unpopular “red coats”, the best one so far being, “I was thirsty and it was the only place I could park”!
Related: ‘It is really not good’ – concerns raised over parking problems in Portadown town centre
Come on people, is it too much to ask for some consideration? At the time of writing, there are two work men sitting, eating their breakfast in the space.
Is it a case of Armagh having insufficient parking amenities as a whole or insufficient free parking spaces? No one wants to pay for parking, especially if they are coming into the city specifically to spend money across its independent retailers, and even less so if they are coming into the city on a daily basis to work for 8 hours per day.
Related: Increase of parking charges in Newry ‘another blow to local businesses’
Yes, the red coats are unpopular but they are there to do their jobs. We can’t all land on FREE PARKING at once!
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Ticket giveaways
Congratulations to Diane Reynolds - you have won this weeks cinema ticket giveaway. Contact our offices on 028 37 443 043 to arrange collection.
Remember you can enter every week by clicking here
This week we have teamed up with The Market Place Theatre Armagh to give away a pair of tickets to The Roy Orbinson story, playing Friday May 19 at 8.00pm.
Listen
In Tuesday’s issue we asked the question if it was time to reinvent the city centre experience. Posing questions about some of our side streets and what role they could play to enhance the city. The one thing we always love is hearing from readers.
To make this easier you can now voice note us on WhatsApp on 07395 282 224 just as Martin Rafferty did with his view on what Armagh needs.
Lookback
According to The Armagh Guardian, 41 years ago in October 1982, local Councillor Noel Little had approached Armagh District Council about the potential purchase of a disused parcel of land previously known as ‘The Fair Green’ in Markethill.
According to Councillor Little, the land which had once existed as a grassed area, with trees surrounding, had fallen into a ‘disgraceful condition’ and had become an ‘eyesore’ for village residents.
Cars had been parking up across the area, day and night, and fly tipping was becoming a major concern. The Councillor proposed the area be purchased, tidied up and provided with seats to be used as a ‘village amenity’.
It isn’t entirely clear from the article exactly where this land lay, however, after some research we believe it may have been just off the roundabout on Fair Green Road, in an area which now boasts a small business park.
However, if you have any memories of this area and what became of it feel free to enlighten us by leaving a comment below.
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There’s lots of parking, but there’s not enough parking right out side a shop for people who are lazy. People parking in disabled bays with out a blue badge for them selves (not there mothers )due to there laziness is an epidemic
I park in the small car park opposite the health centre. Last week I had an appointment to go to, so went to get my car. 3 cars had parked behind mine so I was completely locked in. The car park behind St Malachys had loads of spaces.....people are just too lazy to walk. They would drive into the shops if they were able to. No consideration for anyone but themselves.