By Ryan Sands
All council-operated car parks are to be free of charge on Saturdays between now and Christmas. On Monday, the local authority unanimously backed an emergency notice of motion – tabled by Geraldine Kearns (Sinn Féin, Newry) – proposing that parking fees for its charged car parks be relaxed for the festive period.
As well as six car parks in Newry, this will apply to three in Downpatrick (Irish Street, Scotch Street, and Church Street) and two in Ballynahinch (Lisburn Street South and Windmill Street). The proposal called on the council to ‘recognise the importance of revitalising our town centres and the challenges of parking in Newry city and Downpatrick’, to ‘acknowledge the need to encourage people to shop locally’, and to ‘recognise that workers, businesses, and shoppers need access to parking and that availability of parking is an asset to the economic development of the area’. It asked that officials ‘introduce appropriate parking incentives for off-street car parks in time for the retail rush ahead of Christmas’, suggesting that this ‘take the form of free parking for the next three Saturdays’.
Speaking on the motion, Cllr Kearns said that every Christmas, “we try to encourage as many people as possible to shop local and support local businesses.” “Shopping local has obvious benefits for the local economy and enhances the social life of our urban centres,” she continued. “We are bringing this motion tonight to try to incentivise shopping locally. We are calling on the council to introduce appropriate incentives for off-street car parking in time for the retail rush ahead of Christmas. Free parking for the next three Saturdays would help shoppers and make our town and city centres more attractive to shop in.”
Her party colleague Oonagh Hanlon (Downpatrick) seconded the proposal and stated that “measures like seasonal free parking will make a huge difference to families, workers, and businesses at a time when every penny counts.” “I have listened to local business owners who have raised concerns about reduced footfall in town centres, and we are committed to doing whatever we can to support businesses and to help our local independent retailers thrive,” she added. “This will give Christmas shoppers the opportunity to avail of free parking in the run-up, on the Saturdays, to Christmas, and I hope that people will come into the town centres and enjoy what our local businesses have to offer. Sinn Féin is committed to supporting local businesses and regenerating our town centres, and I would encourage people to shop local and support small businesses.”
David Lee-Surginor (Alliance, Rowallane) confirmed that his party fully supported the motion and suggested that, to provide “certainty to both our residents and fantastic local businesses,” free festive Saturday parking be implemented annually. Pete Byrne (SDLP, Slieve Gullion) voiced concern that previous motions on introducing free parking measures had gone to a working group for discussion and had “stalled effectively.” “Now we are coming, on 1 December, and are going to try to get the comms out to people to say that the next three Saturdays are free,” he said. “It’s a huge, huge task for council officers, although welcome. But it shouldn’t be just for Christmas – ‘here’s a wee gift and it’s only for Christmas’ – and taking it back away in January.”
Highlighting that he had recently visited Banbridge, which he described as “absolutely thriving, with free parking,” the councillor asked for further information to be brought back to council in future so that “an informed decision on full car parking” can be made. Council chief executive Marie Ward confirmed that making car parking free on the three Saturdays in question could be “implemented through advertising and signage,” adding that it would be “easier for us to manage in the short term” than other measures, such as introducing an hour’s free parking. “It will mean that the machines are still running and the app is still running, because we can’t get those amended,” she pointed out. “We will put that out on social media and in the local press and, obviously, on signage in the car parks.”
Mrs. Ward also said that the comparative income from council car parks on the equivalent three Saturdays last year was “somewhere in the region of £10,000.” Glyn Hanna (DUP, Mournes) gave his party’s backing for the proposal. “We, in the DUP, are happy enough to see any support for retail, and the three Saturdays in the run-up to Christmas will be beneficial to them,” he added. David Taylor (UUP, Slieve Gullion) voiced his support for the free parking initiative. “As a council, we should be doing everything we can to support and complement our local retailers,” he stated. “We shouldn’t need an emergency motion to bring something forward like this, because I know there are a number of councils that have already made these announcements weeks and weeks ago about offering this type of support.”
Cllr Hanlon said that she thought that the wider issue of car parking shouldn’t be “conflated with what we are doing tonight.” “There is an inequality with car parking across Newry, Mourne and Down, where some towns are free and some towns are charged,” she stressed. “What we need to focus on is, on the three Saturdays coming up to Christmas, that shoppers are welcomed into our towns and are going to be able to park for free. I think it is a really good thing tonight, but absolutely we need to really get focused on it in 2026 and on how to address car parking in general throughout the district.”
Cllr Lee-Surginor described the proposal, which received the full backing of the council, as a “temporary solution” that would “give equality across the likes of Rowallane,” where car parks are free in some areas, such as in Saintfield, but not in Ballynahinch.
