Grosvenor Road area commuter parking causing 'road safety misery', councillor says

A Councillor has hit out at a West Belfast district being used as a ‘commuter car park’.

Christina Black, a Sinn Fein rep for the Ward area, says residents in the Grosvenor, Hamill Street, Divis and Dunville areas are facing ‘daily road safety misery’ and must ‘negotiate a gauntlet of hazards’ to go about their business.

She says Council cleansing services are sometimes affected and fears emergency services could have difficulty accessing some streets.

She added: “These streets are not designed to be commuter car parks, they are designed to house homes and families. These streets frame the city centre and run alongside the Westlink, they face air pollution issues and road noise. They cannot also bear the brunt of additional commuter parking.

“During lockdown families were limited to the local area, they had to find new ways to use local spaces such as the Westlink walking path and Dunville Park. People who live in these communities have every right to use their streets and local spaces freely and safely.

“They have every right to have some sort of say in what is happening outside their own front door.

“The communities recognise the massive work undertaken by Belfast City Council Cleansing teams and applaud them for navigating blocked roads and tight corners to even get to bins but there have been times when roads have simply been unpassable.

“This causes a delay for those service providers, additional time and cost pressures and of course waste problems. Where this happens the crews have to return to the area at a different time, that means changing schedules, more fuel use, reorganising routes and hassle. A parked car is not worth blocking a communities access to services.”

Cllr Black also called for the Department for Infrastructure begin to roll out residents parking schemes at a faster pace. She said a scheme similar to the one in the city’s university area could be applied in and around Grosvenor.

She added: “Running parallel to this we want to see road safety enhancements particularly around local schools St Peter’s, St Joseph’s and St Mary’s, as such we had a motion calling for a Road Safety Review. We all hope that Weavers Cross and the new Transport Hub will see a modal shift to more public transport use but to solve these current access and safety problems we need immediate actions and we need them now.”

A Belfast City Council spokesman said their waste collection vehicles “sometimes experience problems accessing streets due to badly parked vehicles”.

They added: “This can increase the length of time it takes our waste collection crews to empty bins and sometimes it can prevent them from emptying bins altogether.

“We would encourage everyone to be considerate when parking, including residents and commuters, especially on the days bins are due to be collected.

“We continue to highlight these issues across our communication channels to help our crews deliver a timely and efficient waste collection service for all residents across the city.”

Asked about the call for a residents parking scheme, a Department for Infrastructure spokesperson said: “Minister Mallon is currently working with officials to finalise the report on the review of resident parking schemes and once completed, it will be made publicly available and the Department will then consider any requests for residents’ parking schemes in light of the recommendations from the review.”

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