it turns out that Westminster council would like bikers to start paying for their parking. We aren’t paying a congestion charge so they feel that they have to find some other way to extract money out of us. Their argument is that there aren’t enough parking spaces in Westminster, so they want us to start paying for the spaces that do exist so they can come up with 500 more. For more information, read this article: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/6227709.stm
I work in Oxford circus and have personally ALWAYS found a space - maybe not at the bay outside my office but typically close by (I always seem to find a space free, its just a question of knowing where they are). I found that some kindred spirit has started a petition and so I’ve signed up for it. I’m hoping that other londonbikers might want to do the same. The address for the petition is at: http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/FreeBikeParking/sign
I’m still quite cutup over the last time I had a run-in with the Lambeth council because they fined me £160 (no typo) because I parked my bike on the sidewalk outside my house for three hours. These parking ‘fees’ and parking ‘fines’ typically start off small and get introduced as a ‘scheme’ of some sort. I hope we can all get together with this one and nip it in the bud.
Yeah, quite a few peeps on here have signed the petition I believe.
On a similar note…
Did anyone else receive a text along the lines…“Rd charging allows gov 2 double cost of fuel without the driver being able to compare the cost abroad.”
What really makes me very angry about Westminster’s proposal to charge motorcyclists for parking is that they claim they have to charge because of the cost involved in creating more parking spaces for bikes. I don’t think this is true. I work in an area covered by the Westminster council and every time I walk in the streets, I can see a lot of free (car) parking spaces. That’s because people have been disposing of their cars following the implementation of the congestion charge and commuters (living in other areas) have not been using their car because of the congestion charge. I find it very hard to believe that it would cost the council a significant amount of money to convert these unusued bays into motorcycle bays. They keep saying that they have to spend a lot of money in creating 500 more spaces for bikes and I think this is simply an erroneous excuse they are using to justify a parking charge. They simply don’t want to admit that the true reason why they want to charge motorcyclists for parking is to make money and recover any lost revenue from the reduced use of cars.
Why has the Corporation of London for example (which covers the city) recently created 600 additional parking spaces for motorbikes, which are all free of charge? Why can’t Westminster council do the same by converting unused car parking bays? Or else, which would be a lot more efficient and would cost nothing, allow motorcycles to park for free in between cars like it is the case in Hammersmith & Fulham? This works very well in Hammersmith & Fulham as a motorcycle hardly takes any space compared with a car and everyone is happy.
I think Westminster council should recognise and admit that the ONLY reason why they want to charge motorcyclists for parking is to make money and nothing else. Needless to say that charging for motorcycle parking would inevitably reduce the number of people using motorcycles, which are regarded by the Government and the Mayor as a way to reduce congestion and pollution in London. Therefore, attempts to reduce their use go against Government policy to reduce congestion, pollution and increase environmental awareness.
