North coast parking charges income lower than expected

Income generated from new seasonal parking charges at four car parks on Northern Ireland's north coast was significantly lower than what was projected by the council, a committee has been told.

The charges at three seafront car parks in Ballycastle and West Strand/Bay in Portrush ran from April to September of last year.

At a Causeway Coast and Glens Council committee meeting last week, the council's environmental health director, Aidan McPeake, said the projected income from the first year of the seasonal charges was £220,000.

However the actual income was £166,739, with a net income of £139,122 after enforcement costs, more than £80,000 less than expected.

The charges at the following car parks were brought in last year:

• West Strand/Bay car park, Portrush
• Seafront car park, Ballycastle
• Harbour car park, Ballycastle
• Ferry Terminal car park, Ballycastle

Motorists pay 50p per hour in the car parks between April and September.

However, Rathlin Island residents who park overnight in Ballycastle, non-residents with permanent employment on the island, and berth holders within the marina are all eligible for free parking permits.

When the charges were first proposed in 2024, some locals told BBC News NI they were unhappy with the change.

McPeake told council members it was "always going to be difficult" for officers to accurately predict the income from the new charges and said "adjustments" would be made for the second year of the scheme.

"We had very few complaints, it worked really well, and I'm hoping that will continue for a year two," he said.

"But the number of permits that we had to issue out is probably slightly greater than what we had anticipated [and] the income is less than what we had anticipated."

McPeake said the council received no income from parking during certain events.

"West Bay was leased as part of the Open and we received funding for that," he said.

"But there were other events that took place on that car park like Northwest 200 [and] the Ford Fair that we didn't receive any income from.

"So that was missed, and the Lammas Fair in Ballycastle, there's no recompense for that."

Asked about the £61,000 difference between projected and actual income at the car park at West Strand/Bay, McPeake said the council had overestimated the capacity there.

"We were basing it on a capacity of 80% capacity during the high season and in reality we didn't make that," he said.

Speaking to BBC News NI, Sinn Féin councillor Cara McShane said her party had opposed the introduction of the car parking charges.

Of the income generated by them, she said: "The fact is that it has brought in an extra almost £140,000 to council, so that will help offset the impact of the rates within Causeway Coast and Glens.

"But we will be continuing to monitor this and also asking council for full transparency on the parking income."

"We need to ensure the council is using the income to make sure that maintenance is kept up to date and the harbours and our seafront are maintained."

She said some people have had car parking fines "because they weren't aware that there were car parking charges or they didn't see the signage".

"That has happened on a number of occasions for people visiting Rathlin Island [from Ballycastle] who I suppose enjoyed free parking up until 2025," she said.

"Often you just park your car get on the ferry and don't think and there have been a number of instances [of fine] - more probably for visitors who weren't aware, it was definitely well highlighted in the media locally."

She added "We were really worried about the impact on the Rathlin Island community and we'll continue to monitor the situation."

Ulster Unionist councillor Richard Holmes said it was not a complete surprise that the income received was lower than what was projected.

"I suppose charges at times do change people's behaviour, maybe people have made more use of of street parking," he said.

"Trying to budget's not an exact science, so it would be nice to see a little more money, but we've introduced car parking charges before and it's really the second year before things settle down."

He said the charges were necessary given the number of tourists who come to the area.

"The council has to provide a lot of services to cater for those tourists with no real way to get income from them," he said.

"So car parking charges, particularly seasonal charges, is the only way council can raise money off the back of the tourist industry in the local area."

He added: "We have people up and down the towns at night time doing street cleaning which you wouldn't have in normal towns, but because we're a seaside destination we have to do that.

"Our charging is much, much less than it is in Belfast so I think we've struck a reasonable balance there in raising some money, but not exploiting the situation."

Additional reporting by Local Democracy reporter Andy Balfour.