DRD are ‘washing hands’ of problems

Last month Councillor Ronnie Crawford flagged up the plight of Conway Street residents who say they are at their wits end because of mounting car parking issues and anti-social behaviour near their homes - including students urinating at the front of a church.

Following correspondence with DRD Mr Crawford said: “They are saying the street does not warrant yellow lines and because of that they will not place white lines across the mouth of residents’ drives.”

He continued: “The only solution they recommend is for residents to ring the police if there is an obstruction. Clearly they have not thought through the practicalities of this derisory suggestion. It takes no account of pressure already on the police and the slow response times in busy periods.

“The control of the street and the traffic on it is the responsibility of the DRD and I will be asking the Minister Danny Kennedy to look at the problem again and perhaps come up with a constructive solution,”

Mr Crawford said residents have been left disappointed with the DRD response and said that DRD is “abdicating responsibility for the management of vehicles on this street”.

He continued: “Residents did not expect this kind of Pontius Pilate response from the body charged with the management of traffic and they look at Wallace Avenue just around the corner where motorists can be fined £90 for parking a few minutes extra in a parking bay, but within sight of those bays other motorists can block a resident’s car in their own drive and the DRD don’t want to know about it.”

A DRD spokesperson said: “Roads Service officials recently replied to Councillor Crawford’s concerns about parking difficulties faced by residents of Conway Street in Lisburn.

“Whilst the response is factually correct Roads Service would like to add that Conway Street has been identified as one of the areas in Lisburn City centre that would benefit from the introduction of a residents’ parking scheme.

“Officials are presently concentrating their efforts on schemes in inner Belfast. However, it is hoped that in due course residents’ parking schemes could also be progressed in other areas including Lisburn.”

Timing would be dependent on future prioritisation.