South Down MLA Seán Rogers has expressed his disappointment that a repeat of last years overly zealous ticket wardens were at work during this years Festival of Flight in Newcastle.
The SDLP representative who attended the full day of events said: “The number of visitors to Newcastle was amazing and unfortunately the car parking facilities were overstretched as has been the case in previous years. Whilst nobody is suggesting dangerously parked cars or cars that are preventing access/traffic flow should be overlooked, a more common sense approach to ticketing should be adopted on such occasions”.
Mr Rogers claimed mixed messages were being sent to the visiting public, encouraging them to visit the town and the festival whilst issuing an excessive numbers of parking tickets.
Optimistic that a the situation could be better managed Mr Rogers said: “I look forward to working with Newry Mourne and Down Council in developing a more proactive approach to the shortage of car parking spaces during such major events.
“Meanwhile, however, while the problem remains outstanding I will also request that a measured approach of issuing parking tickets is adopted to facilitate such well promoted events.”
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