Business leaders are expecting good news about the scrapping of plans for controversial on-street parking charges when they meet the Roads Minister today.

The Belfast Telegraph has been supporting traders, through its Park The Charges campaign, in their fight to see the plans binned.

Glyn Roberts from the Northern Ireland Independent Retail Traders Association (NIIRTA) is due to lead a delegation — including representatives from Derry City Centre Management, and Ards, Banbridge and Down Chambers of Commerce — to Stormont this afternoon.

They have been invited to meet the new Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy, and are quietly confident that he will signal the end of the contentious plans put forward by his Sinn Fein predecessor.

“We were encouraged by the statement that Danny Kennedy made on his first day in office that he plans to review the parking charges scheme,” Mr Roberts told the Belfast Telegraph.

“We hope that we will get some inkling that he’s prepared to abandon these parking charges so that we can put this issue to one side and focus on other ways to regenerate our town centres.”

Former Regional Development Minister Conor Murphy sparked outrage when he proposed the possibility of making motorists in 30 towns pay for parking for the first time. He claimed the move would generate more than £37m over four years and said a public consultation would be launched to gauge opinion.

Struggling small traders branded the scheme a “tax on shopping” and voiced fierce opposition.

Through the Belfast Telegraph’s Park The Charges campaign, retailers claimed it would kill the high street by driving customers to out-of-town developments.

\[Steven Holland\]where parking is free.

Before the Assembly election, Mr Kennedy has said it would be “entirely sensible” to prevent the proposals.

Last month he said he would make an announcement in July after taking into consideration all views.

background

What we are calling for: The Belfast Telegraph’s Park The Charges campaign is calling for the DRD Minister to scrap plans to introduce on-street car parking charges. Traders have expressed concerns about the impact of the plan on our town centres.