Ekins calls for Zero tolerance on penalising bad parking on Lisburn Road

11.15.00am BST (GMT +0100) Sat 13th May 2006

Belfast City Councillor, Tom Ekin

Former Alliance Belfast Lord Mayor Tom Ekin has said traffic enforcement officers must adopt a zero tolerance policy to cars parked illegally on the Lisburn Road.

The Balmoral representative stated: "Driving along the Lisburn Road yesterday I noticed about 50 Cars parked on the Clearway at 5pm. Also I saw the PSNI ticketing these offenders -- and entirely rightly so.

"However, one car parked on a clearway on the road is enough to cause severe congestion. There must be an absolute zero tolerance policy -- just catching 95% of offenders is not enough.

"Drivers continue to stop and park where it clearly states that it is forbidden, and where it causes obstruction for people driving home. It restricts the flow of traffic, no matter what length of time the vehicle stops for.

"Similarly, cars stop at Marlborough Park and Mount Aboo intersections, on double yellow lines, under no parking signs, and across dropped kerbs which are used by people with prams, wheel chairs, and zimmer frames. Do these drivers have no consideration for fellow street users?

"It is apparent that the only way to stop them is to penalise each and every offender. If necessary, the penalties must be considerably increased for drivers who do not seem to care about fellow citizens."

ENDS