Campaign for local car park

The vacant site at Antrim Street, which has been used as a car park for more than a decade, has been closed since earlier this year when Lisburn and Castlereagh City Council served an enforcement notice on its owners.

The site has been the subject of a lengthy planning process, with permission having been granted on a year-by-year basis for the land to be used as a car park until redevelopment plans were progressed.

The long-running saga has now taken another twist, with campaigners who want to see the car park reopened setting up a Facebook page.

The ‘Support Jordans Mill Car Park’ Facebook page has already reached more than 20,000 people, and its owners say the response has been “overwhelming.”

The page claims that since the car park closed, many businesses in the area have suffered from a drop in footfall.

Local Alderman Jim Dillon told the Star that Lisburn is crying out for more car parking.

He said: “I have been speaking to people who avoid shopping in Lisburn because it is so difficult to get parked. Lisburn is suffering from the lack of adequate car parking and something needs to be done about it, we don’t want local businesses to suffer.”