This kind of sets a precedent for the other London boroughs and UK councils. Only a quid a day now…but you can be sure that’ll go up regularly:
I’m a bit gobsmacked at this result.
The Appeal set out to establish the illegality of the procedure WCC employed to bring in these charges – it was never meant to be a ruling on whether charges should exist, just the underhanded (and illegal) way WCC went about it, which also uncovered mass corruption within the council itself.
I’m disgusted.
The EU are investigating so I doubt this will be the end of it.
Sorry, boring.
i think its a rubbish scheme. run under the guise of reducing congestion but really just another means for the council to boost its takings. the wardens in Pimlico I met were rude and unhelpful and there is no benefit gained by the rider. No anchor points, no cameras or security.
Its only a matter of time before other councils follow, imo.
the basis of the defence arguement: charging is the obvious way to help with not enough bike parking space.
So given that cars create much more “congestion”, for which there is a charge for a car and not for a bike as a bike creates a lot lot less congestion, how about do away with some car spaces and make more bike parking?
We’ve said it all along - not to challenge the £1 (so petty). But to challenge the fact that the council went back on its promises re: more bays and security.
Just tired of saying ‘we told you so’
Sorry.
It’s all about the money.
A car space will fit 8 bikes? = £8 for a day.
How much does it cost a car to park for the day + congestion charge.
No brainer.
People try to fight the wrong things.
What this now sets out as a precedent is that all councils can ignore the established procedures for setting up such schemes and can, in the process, award them to any special ‘friend’ seeking to tender that ‘service’.
That’s just wrong.
The procedures are in place for a reason. Just because Westminster councilors have friends in the judiciary shouldn’t allow them to by-pass the law, it makes the law itself worthless, what an absolute farce. :crazy: 
:crazy:
From what I understand from the dozens of emails I’ve received on this case that’s not the basis for the defence: the defence sort to show WCC had improperly introduced the scheme in the first place, that it had no legal authority to do what it did, and had no convincing research to suggest it was a valid proposal anyway.
What appears to have clouded the issue is the judiciary’s view that ‘such a small charge is nominal, and fair, and should be applied to motorcyclists as to other vehicles’, but that isn’t the issue!
Interesting to note one of the corrupt councilors in question has threatened to sue over revelations of his seedy dealings, yet weeks if not months have passed and no writ has been issued. In contrast, the only investigation in progress is being conducted by the EU in regard of his own dealings.
Yeah, basically if you pontificate over green issues or congestion you can get away with anything.
I’m sure it won’t be too long before they ‘allign’ the car/bike charges. :crazy:
agreed, its just a farce they are allowed to introduce a daily charge for driving a car into the city under the guise of “congestion” then they charge a bike to park which is something they should be incouraging if they are really interested in that.
As said, if you claim green or congestion then you can write what ever policies you like, even if they all contradict themselves totally.
Happy to pay a quid for parking, as mentioned for ages. I just want to be able to:
a) Find a space
b) Find my bike there when i come back.
Why should bikes be free anyway? This is one of the most densely populated cities in Europe. One could always move to Milton Keynes and save a £1 charge per day (far less if you pay for a year). But no one wants to do that - Supply and Demand i’m afraid, and they are controlling the supply - which is wrong i agree.
I’m just concerned by the precedent that this ruling sets. Milton Keynes will no doubt follow suit at some point as will all the other councils who are so desperate to make a fast pound note these days. Then what happens when it goes up to £2 in six months, then maybe £3 next year? Etc, etc. A pessimistic but maybe not altogether unrealistic view.
satan’s layby have just abolished the free car parking that they used to have in order ‘to make the system less confusing’, which is very kind of them. ridiculous when you consider that the place was purpose built to be a giant car park, but revenue is revenue these days…
A very pessimistic view IMHO.
If councils are all chomping at the bit around the country to charge for bike parking and then inflate the charges to make extra cash why havent they followed suit and gone for the congestion charge first? (Now in it’s 8th year of existance)
OK might be a bit more of a outlay to impliment but surley £10 per day would generate a much higher revenue for them if that is all they were interested in doing
as said above, im willing to pay to park a bike (in central london) if:
-it stays £1
-there are enough bays to meet demand
-there are anchors in each bay (and the bays are set up like car bays, i.e. one box for each bike to stop people moving other bikes to squese one more in)
-there are cameras on the bays
-and the money from the parking charges goes into the bays (and anchors, cameras…) not someones pocket
+1 to all that.
But just to note that it is only a £1 a day if you can’t stump up for a longer term ticket. If you do it yearly, it is £100 = 44p a day (according to how many working days I have a year).
Golden rule - never draw attention to yourselves.
They want to shut the f^&k up or they will end up winding Boris up even more and the someone might point out to him that bikes are no less polluting than cars and maybe more so running around London with standard exhausts replaced with Catless aftermarket jobbies.
The end result could be the Congestion Charge being levied on motorbikes and scooters and the Bus Lane Red Route exemption removed.
There is no logical reason to exempt motorcycles from parking charges.
Personally I would pay more than £1 if the Councils provided better security at the bay locations - like monitored CCTV, ground anchors or a substantial bar imbedded in the ground to attach chains and other security equipment.
Now if they want to campaign about something then that is a good starting point.
To all those who are prepared to pay £1 on conditions such as ’ enough parking bays ', ’ decent security ’ etc.
- Do you currently park in Westminster?
- Do you think these conditions currently exist?
- If not (to the last point), are you actively not parking in Westminster?
- How else are you making your dissatisfied voice heard? (or is it only on LB?)
- Yes
- No
- No
- Tried all this with the NTBPT lot and they just shouted things like “No retreat, no surrender”
I’m not entirely dissatisfied. I actually think 44p a day is cheap. I now ride a piece of poo bike which wont get stolen and i dont really care if it gets scratched.
HOWEVER - i would very much like to be able to ride what i want and have it respected and not stolen. But we cant have it all eh?
As for the price - it will be raised eventually to what people are prepared to pay. The same as every other commodity. If its too expensive, people will stop parking in town, probably get fed up and move.
If there were adequate security and space, then i think the natural price level is around £5 a day.