Council set to spend £150k on two Coleraine car parks

Council is to spend £150,000 to resurface sections of two Coleraine carparks.
The Mall car park in Coleraine. INCR11The Mall car park in Coleraine. INCR11
The Mall car park in Coleraine. INCR11

Following a survey of all 37 Council owned carparks, Coleraine’s two town centre carparks - The Mall and Abbey Street, are to be prioritised.

Members agreed to carry out the work, but some were concerned about the spend so soon after Council took over the responsibility from DSD.

“I am surprised,” said DUP councillor George Duddy.

“We only took over these carparks last year, was this not noticed at an earlier stage,” he asked.

“We were told that no work was needed. Within a year we are running at a loss and we have money to spend,” he said.

Council Director Aiden McPeak said that when the car parks were transferred the were said to be in a ‘usable condition’ by Roads Service. He added that ‘liability would fail’ if the work was not carried out.

“This falls on the ratepayer, “ said cllr Duddy. “These are a liability not an asset,” he said.

Mr McPeak pointed out that the car parks were still an ‘income generator’ for Council.

UUP Alderman William King said that a budget of £150,000 to resurface both carparks would be ‘tight’. “The people paying to use these carparks deserve better,” he said.

Mr McPeak revealed that the resurfacing work would be carried out in ‘priority sections’ at both sites.

TUV councillor Boyd Douglas said he had raised concerns when Council took charge of the carparks, but he said: “This money needs to be spent if we are to encourage people into our towns to support our local businesses.

“It is our responsibility to fix these carparks, so we need to spend this money.”

Responding to a question from UUP councillor Richard Holmes on income projections from car parks, Council Director Aiden McPeak said that a report on proposed car parking charges would be brought to the committee next month.

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