Residents have said that the Stewart Street area has developed an ongoing problem with parking as drivers park their vehicles on grass verges and across footpaths, making them impossible to use.
Councillor Gary McKeown said: "It's really disrespectful to the people of the Market that drivers use their community as a makeshift carpark, leaving cars at all sorts of angles along the road and cutting up the grass verges with their tyres. "This is something I have raised with the authorities as we need better enforcement to tackle this issue. The Market isn't a carpark – it's a residential area and people have the right to enjoy living there without having to navigate their way past cars parked in every free piece of ground."
“The Market area in South Belfast, including Stewart Street is subject to routine parking enforcement. However, Traffic Attendants can only issue parking tickets to vehicles parked on a footpath if there are marked restrictions on the adjacent carriageway. Furthermore, the grass verge is not owned or maintained by the Department and it is for this reason that TAs are unable to issue tickets to those vehicles parked there.