BPA NORTHERN IRELAND
FEATURE
The master plan A new BPA master plan, called A shared parking plan for the Island of Ireland, is soon to be launched. This document has been produced by the Northern Ireland group in collaboration with colleagues in the Irish Parking Association. The plan will outline the aspirations and objectives of the joint initiative to raise the standard of parking services across Ireland. The Northern Ireland government roads minister, Danny Kennedy, backs the collaboration.
Irish border, working together, can help make roads safer. For 47-year-old Richardson, it’s a chance to put the BPA’s Northern Ireland group firmly on the global map. ‘This is a very important year for the Irish parking profession,’ said Richardson, head of engineering policy and parking service for the Department for Regional Development in the Northern Ireland government. ‘We launched the Northern Ireland group of the BPA last May at the Titanic Centre in Belfast. It was a great location to launch it. The success of that meeting showed that there definitely is a core within Northern Ireland that could benefit from the knowledge and expertise within the BPA in England, Wales and Scotland, as well as the Irish Parking Association in Dublin. ‘We knew, at that stage, that the Irish
Parking Association was going to host the 16th European Parking Congress in September. We felt that it was an opportune time for Northern Ireland to get involved and support it in the organisation of the event. It’s about working together so everyone benefits.’
www.britishparking.co.uk
Richardson said: ‘I meet the minister on a regular basis and he is supportive of our links with the BPA.’ The scene in Northern Ireland is different from the rest of the UK. Road and parking issues across the region are handled centrally by the government’s department for regional development and none of the 26 councils has its own powers over parking. Parking enforcement in Northern Ireland was decriminalised in 2006 and the DRD Road Service contract is held by NSL. Richardson said: ‘We’re trying to pull together a core nucleus of interested parties in Northern Ireland. There are only really two bodies in Northern Ireland that deal with public parking: the department for regional development, and NSL, the enforcement contractor for on-street and off-street enforcement, which works on our behalf.
This is a very important year for the
Irish parking profession
‘Unlike other parts of the UK, we don’t have a base of people from local councils who are BPA members in Northern Ireland. However, the road services section of the DRD is very closely linked to the British Parking Association. We use the BPA model contract for our parking enforcement contract across the whole of Northern Ireland.’
Recruiting processes
Now the aim is to recruit new members to join the Northern Ireland BPA group. Professionals with an interest in parking – everyone from shopping centre managers responsible for busy car parks to NHS executives and education bosses running university and college campuses – will be encouraged to participate in the group’s events.
Richardson said: ‘I think the focus for
An important year… the Irish Parking Association is hosting the 2013 European Parking Association Congress
the BPA centrally, and the members in Northern Ireland is growing the profession
JUNE 2013 33
HORIA BOGDAN / SHUTTERSTOCK
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