Council staff could face parking bills of hundreds of pounds 

Council staff who will be required to transfer from their current working sites at Greenbank and Monaghan Row, to the proposed new council headquarters in the city centre behind Newry Cathedral, could potentially find themselves hundreds of pounds out of pocket.

Presently, parking is free for council workers at, or in the vicinity of Greenbank and Monaghan Row, but with no free on-site staff parking provision in the proposed new offices planning application - nor for councillors, visitors or any third parties intending to work at the site - those moving to the city centre to work could find themselves hundreds of pounds out of pocket. 

A quick calculation shows that at 50p/hr to park in the city centre for an 8-hour, 3-day week is £4/day or £12/week - someone working a 48-week year would have to find £576.

For someone working a full-time 8-hour, 5-day week, a 48-week year equates to £960 per year in parking fees.

An examination of documentation within the planning application - the Travel Assessment/Travel Plan - shows that 196 of the existing 304 car park spaces at Abbey Way will be lost to the proposed new Council offices leaving 108 spaces behind the Cathedral.

The Travel Assessment/Travel Plan states the offices will accommodate 287 people, including 220 council staff, but there is no on-site specific parking plan for people using the building - aside from a number of statutory disabled parking bays.

The approximate gross floor area of the proposed council offices is 5,600sqm and with parking standards at one space per 30sqm, plus 10% for visitors, the council’s parking requirements are, according to the Travel Assessment/Travel Plan, 206 spaces.

‘Planning application process’

Asked if the Council had consulted with staff as to the potential parking costs they may incur at or near the proposed Civic Hub site, should they have to relocate, a Council spokesperson told Newry.ie: “This project is currently progressing through the development stage and transportation and parking are being managed through the planning application process.” 

Councillors responsible

Councillors are responsible for the Newry City Centre Regeneration project and are ultimately accountable for any decisions made.

With no guarantee staff will have continued access to free parking at the proposed offices site, and no mention of the potential they may have to pay in a staff survey contained within the planning application, Newry.ie asked the local political Group Party Leaders had they taken the possible cost to council workers into consideration in the push for new city centre Council offices and had they engaged with staff or unions on the matter?

They were also asked, should this not have been, or should this not be, an issue for councillors as part of the scrutinising and due diligence process [that should be carried out] for this project?

Silence

As with other recent media enquiries from Newry.ie relating to the new council offices - the ‘potential cost of Council capital projects to ratepayers’ and the ‘is there a need for a second 41-seat Chamber’, Sinn Féin, the DUP and the UUP did not respond.

‘Not have political support’ 

SDLP leader on the Council, Cllr Laura Devlin, and Alliance Group Party Leader, Cllr Andrew McMurray, replied, however.

Cllr Devlin said the new Civic Hub proposals are consistently scrutinised by the Newry City Centre Regeneration Programme Board and “the issue of car parking has been extensively flagged by our past board member Cllr Pete Byrne.”

The Mourne DEA councillor also said the SDLP’s position on car parking was “clear and consistent.” 

“Our ask is that businesses and church goers are not displaced from parking spaces throughout the working day,” said Cllr Devlin.

“We have requested details on free off-site parking for council staff and councillors with infrastructure links to and from the centre. At no point have we suggested paid parking for staff. Such a proposal would not have political support and that has been made clear to officers on numerous occasions.

“The Council are continuing to operate a hybrid model of working from home and working from the office. This will continue in the new civic centre where office space is used under a hot-desking model. Under this system we hope to manage numbers of staff coming in and out of the centre effectively. 

“The business case has been cleared by economists in the department as per the processes of a city deal project.

“Given the application is a major one, the detail of parking will be presented to the planning committee as is the case with all such applications. 

“Councillors will have the final say on the application and the proposals put in front of the Planning Committee regarding parking provision.

“I have every confidence that our councillors on the Planning Committee, Cllr Declan McAteer and Cllr Byrne, will assess the proposed parking provision forensically and only approve it if it meets the requirements necessary, i.e., that staff can safely park and gain access to the civic centre at no extra cost.” 

‘Management’s pet projects’

Alliance Group Party Leader, Cllr McMurray said his party “remains opposed to the civic centre plans [as] they are” and share the “concerns of statutory objectors - Department for Infrastructure (Roads) and Northern Ireland Water [who have both rejected the lodged planning application].” 

“The adverse impact that removing these car parking spaces to build the new Council offices will have on business and community stakeholders cannot be overstated, and we have serious concerns about the cost impact on council staff,” said Cllr McMurray.

“Alliance has consistently lobbied Council to go in a different direction with this project - to look at alternative, lower cost sites which will add real regeneration value to Newry, providing high quality office accommodation, whilst also respecting modern working patterns and the fact we already have a civic centre in Downpatrick.

“Unfortunately, these plans have been railroaded through by other parties which seem more concerned with rubber stamping management’s pet projects than delivering value for money for ratepayers.’