Complaints surrounding Royal Mail vans parking on-street near the delivery office in Armagh could shortly be addressed – with a ‘temporary’ solution to be delivered and currently awaiting the stamp of approval.
ABC Council recently wrote to Royal Mail to detail multiple concerns surrounding the service locally.
One of those related to parking, with issues in Armagh, Craigavon and Banbridge all being flagged.
Royal Mail’s Executive Correspondence Manager Gary Redmond explained they had been “working closely” with ABC Council to secure additional off-site parking close to the delivery office on Upper English Street in Armagh.
“The proposed licence has received the necessary internal approval and we have requested the final documentation from the council so the agreement can be formally completed,” Mr Redmond explained, in a letter just received by council.
“We believe that this will provide a longer-term solution to the pressure on on-street parking around the delivery office, while helping to reduce the impact on nearby residents and businesses.
“We have also engaged with colleagues and the relevant local authorities regarding parking at Craigavon. Our aim is to identify arrangements that ease pressure on surrounding roads and
minimise the impact of our operations on the local community.”
SDLP Councillor Thomas O’Hanlon, speaking at the October monthly meeting, sought an update on discussions Royal Mail was having in relation to parking facilities on some of its land.
He said he had been in Armagh this week and counted seven Royal Mail vans parked on the street, including some in the area in front of the Charlemont Hotel, “where there has been notorious problems”.
“This still hasn’t gone away,” said Councillor O’Hanlon, who asked for the very latest in relation to discussions for a temporary parking agreement for three years.
Mark Halliday, head of estates and asset management, said following committee approval for the license agreement, everything had been drafted and issued to Royal Mail’s solicitors; they were in the process of following this up to have the agreement signed and to allow the car parking to commence.
Alliance Councillor Joy Ferguson said she had also raised the issue of parking by Royal Mail vehicles at the Scarva Street Plaza in Banbridge, but this had not been covered in the correspondence received. She therefore asked for it to be followed up.
And DUP Councillor Ian Wilson called for something to be put in place to prevent anyone parking on the plaza, saying the surface was now marked with oil which had leaked from vehicles.
He said that, along with DfI, a lot of money had been spent at the Scarva Street Plaza and Banbridge town centre itself.
“We can’t invest millions of pounds for a community facility to be absolutely destroyed,” added Councillor Wilson. “I think that what we need to be looking at is some physical barriers being put up to stop vehicles using this as some convenient parking space.”
