Kimmins delivers festive parking boost to Lisburn and Newry
Infrastructure Minister Liz Kimmins has delivered a festive boost to Lisburn and Newry by introducing an hour’s grace period for people parking in the on-street parking spaces within the Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs).
This means people will have up to one hour to return to their cars following the expiry of their paid parking event without fear of receiving a parking ticket.
The initiative, which is being trialled in Lisburn and Newry over the festive season, will begin on Saturday, 29 November 2025 and run until 10 January 2026.
The Lisburn CPZ covers around 240 charged on-street parking spaces whilst Newry has around 440.
Minister Kimmins said: “I am well aware of the challenges that shop owners and hospitality providers are experiencing, and the need to encourage more people to visit and spend time on the High Street.
“Traders want people to be relaxed and they want them to stop for a coffee. They want people to be looking at their window displays and looking at what they have to offer on their shelves – not looking at their watches in a panic to get back to their car.
“I have examined all options available to me around flexibility in controlled parking zones to support high street shopping and hospitality, which is why I am pleased to introduce this pilot initiative for Lisburn and Newry over the festive season.
“This trial will help shape future approaches to on-street parking, ensuring that they meet the needs of local communities and businesses.
“Providing an hour’s grace period for parking sessions will give shoppers and traders a boost, offering greater flexibility for visitors while balancing the need to maintain an effective flow of traffic into these city centres during the festive season.”
“I encourage all visitors to Lisburn and Newry to park responsibly to ensure we have safer streets, better access for disabled people, support for local business and a transport system that works for everyone.”
However, other provincial towns such as Downpatrick face another difficult Christmas period where traders have tried to recover from the flooding in 2023. There have been calls there too to relax parking fees in car parks and on the main streets coming up to the festive season but several traders fear that customers are being driven to the larger ‘cities’.
