BY MARK McKELVEY
PARKING tickets issued in Omagh dramatically rose from a mere 86 in the month of October to 859 from November 13 to December 9 2006.
This shocking increase coincides with the passing over of responsibility for on-street parking from the PSNI to the privately run company, NCP, at the start of November.
Since this change, 500 tickets a day have been issued throughout the North, netting the government in excess of £30,000, more than double the daily average when parking regulations fell under the jurisdiction of the PSNI.
This staggering figure of 859 tickets in Omagh eclipses other Tyrone towns in the same time period, with Strabane receiving 558, Cookstown next with 371 and Dungannon, who only had 110 parking offences.
Despite this increase Omagh Town UUP Councillor, Ross Hussey has no sympathy with those that have been allocated parking penalties.
"This is maybe an indication that people in Northern Ireland seem to think that parking lines are there for fun, obviously some have now learnt a bitter lesson," declared Cllr Hussey.
"A lot of people are aware of the law and are basically trying their arm to a certain degree. Disabled bays in Omagh are clearly marked, but we have able bodied people who seem to think they can use it for five minutes to nip into a shop, which clearly they cannot do, the same applies to loading bays.
He said, "I wouldn't support those suggestions at all as I feel the attendants in Omagh are fairly fair minded. A lot of the people receiving tickets are bringing it on themselves as they will not make that effort to walk that distance from the car parks. If people observe the regulations there shouldn't be a problem."
A spokesperson for DRD Road Service has argued that traffic attendants are not issuing fines in a careless fashion.
"Our aim is not to issue parking tickets, our aim is to encourage drivers to park properly. If people park properly, we wont have to issue parking tickets. However, if people continue to park illegally, our attendants will issue penalty charge notices," said the spokesperson.
A spokesperson for DRD Road Service hopes to alleviate some of the issues that motorists may be confused about, especially concerning the problem area of timed zones.
Many motorists have complained that because they drive away, vacating their space they can return to a different space on the same street.
The DRD spokesperson however confirmed this is not permitted, "When parking restrictions on a sign indicate no return within a set period of time, this applies not just to any specific bay, but to the full extent of the marked parking zone."
Also a motorist in the Omagh area has alleged that while purchasing a pay and display ticket, they received a fixed parking penalty because by locking their door, this gave the impression they had left their vehicle, but was supposedly told by the attendant if they had left their vehicle open they wouldn't have received a penalty.
In response to this allegation the DRD spokesperson said, "In a circumstance where someone feels they have been issued with a penalty unfairly, they should appeal it by following the instructions on the back of their ticket."
Meanwhile, as parking attendants have been physically assaulted and taunted across the North as they go about their job, an attendant in Omagh stated there has been no such incidents locally.
