VANDALISED parking meters in a town in Wales - which heralded an unexpected rise in footfall - has driven the contentious issue of on-street parking back into the spotlight in Belfast.
Traders in the Ceredigion town of Cardigan recently reported a 30 per cent rise in business after pay-and-display machines at several locations had been rendered 'out of order' since early June.
A corresponding rise in footfall in the high street prompted Welsh traders to ask their local council to cut parking charges - although the machines have since been repaired and are back in use.
While not condoning criminality, the spike in business was seen as a welcome by-product for Martin Radley, chairman of Cardigan Traders, who said shoppers had taken advantage of the free parking to stay longer at the shops.
In Belfast, which, along with Lisburn and Newry, is the only region in the north to have on-street parking charges, the link between free parking and a boom in business has reignited the debate over how to boost worrying footfall figures in the city.
John Moore, proprietor of family-run sportswear business SS Moore Sports Ltd., said he had no doubt that footfall - which dropped 4.5 per cent in July compared to the same period last year - would be massively impacted if free on-street parking was introduced in Belfast.
"Shoppers coming into the city are very price-conscious at the moment and in my experience people will drive 20 miles to get a free parking space," he said.
"You can see the difference on a Sunday when on-street parking is free and there are many traders in Belfast who would predict the very same thing happening here as in Wales. There would be a huge influx of shoppers - it would, in effect, be 'open season'.
"No matter how many bus lanes there are or car parks, people like to park close to the shops they intend to visit. The single most effective measure to increase footfall in the high street is undoubtedly the provision of low-cost adjacent parking."
Mr Moore, a past president of Belfast Chamber, pointed out that other areas across the north were fortunate to have free one-hour on-street parking, while 23 towns were currently benefitting from a pilot scheme allowing motorists to park in former Transport NI (Department for Regional Development) car parks - now taken over by the new 'super councils' - for up to five hours for just £1.
Echoing this view, current president of Belfast Chamber, Hugh Black, said it was "essential to the survival" of cities and town centres that affordable parking was on offer in close proximity to shops, restaurants and other services.
"The current planning policy restricting or preventing further car park provision within the city only limits supply and pushes prices up," he added. "Accessibility to our city requires good public transport provision plus good affordable car park provision and capacity."
Belfast has in the region of 1,660 on-street parking spaces and, according to the DRD, pay-and-display machines in the city generate an average of £2.7 million per year for Executive coffers - including proceeds from an average 50,000 cashless Parkmobile transactions per month.
Figures provided by the department show that for 2014/2015, a total of £2,677.707,13 was raised through on-street parking in Belfast alone - a small drop from 2012/2013 when pay-and-display machines raised £2,707,230.54.
In 2011, Regional Development Minister Danny Kennedy abruptly scrapped plans to roll out on-street parking charges across Northern Ireland, saying the timing was not right given the "tough economic climate" that businesses were operating in.
Charges remained, however, in Belfast, Lisburn and Newry, with tariffs fluctuating between zones, ranging from 80p for two hours in Newry, to £4.80 for four hours' parking in parts of Belfast.
"There has been no vandalism of on-street controlled parking zones pay and display machines in Belfast," the DRD spokesman added. "In any case, there is always more than one machine available for drivers wishing to avail of on street parking."
