FEATURE Northern Ireland Group Were stepping up a gear The BPA membership team attended the recent Northern Ireland parking managers meeting to welcome 10 local authorities on board. So what challenges are they facing, and how can the BPA support them? ts the start of a new chapter for the Northern Ireland Group. Ten local authorities joined the BPA in October a sign of the desire to take control of parking management and make it work for them. Off-street parking management was devolved to local authorities in 2015, along with several other responsibilities, including planning. At the same time, a complete restructure cut the number of local authorities from 26 to 11. Off-street parking is an entirely new function for us, says Lewis Porter, principal administrative officer at Armagh City, Banbridge and Craigavon Borough Council. But were trying to get up to speed with what needs to be done and what makes a good car parking manager. Most of the councils still have a contract with the Department for Infrastructure (DfI). In turn, it has extended its original contract with NSL to 2022 to give the councils time to prepare to run their own procurement processes. Sen McConnell, parking manager at the DfI a BPA member explains: The idea behind devolving power was to allow local authorities to take control I of their towns and villages. To be fair, the councils had a lot to cope with in 2015, but now, three years on, I think they should be moving to take power over from the DfI so they can manage car parks in a way that fits the needs of their area. Taking control One of the issues over which Porter would like more control is the provision of free parking on Saturdays before Christmas. When the council Were trying to get up to speed with what needs to be done and what makes a good car parking manager 32 Britishparking.co.uk PNDec18 pp32-33 Northern Ireland.indd 32 26/11/2018 16:24