A Newry and Armagh MLA has called on the Department of Infrastructure to “put the clampers on” private parking companies after one of his constituents was threatened with a £170 fine.
During Members’ Statements in the Assembly on December 1, SDLP Justin McNulty MLA made a statement regarding a letter received by a constituent from a solicitor threatening her with the fine for her unpaid parking ticket.
Mr. McNulty has been consistently outspoken about predatory private parking companies threatening motorists with legalistic letters and fines, but stressed that the action of sending people correspondence from solicitors is a new, calculated, low.
McNulty stated: “These [private parking] companies are a scourge on society. They are a money making racket, and their control over shoppers, business people, and all motorists must end.
“The Department of Infrastructure must hold these companies to account and stop them from harassing motorists, not just with extortionate fines in the post, but now with the extreme action of sending letters from solicitors.
“It is unfair, unreasonable, and completely unregulated by the DfI who should put the clampers on these companies.”
