WESTMINSTER TO CHARGE FOR MOTORCYCLE PARKING IN LONDON
Just wanted to let everyone know about this important issue. It was mentioned on the front page of MCN a few weeks ago - in fact it was us who broke the story to them.
Basically, Westminster City Council have future plans to charge motorcyclists to park in standard motorcycle parking bays in London.
Originally, the plan was to also provide additional security devices (like chainable rails) but this has now been dismissed.
The plan has implications for ALL bikers nationwide. If this goes ahead in London then it’s likely that other councils nationwide will follow.
To find out more and to sign a PETITION have a look at this website which is totally dedicated to the issue. It’s run by bikers, for bikers:
This is a very important cause for us guys and girls, come on, sign-up! We all use bike bays now and then in town and would you want to pay for them just because some new council member wants to win some browny points?!
Certainly a mass rideout is something we are seriously thinking about.
Maybe something along the lines of the KillSpills Rally would wake up those concerned.
Once more bikers are aware of the issue we will look at this as an option. At the moment we need to raise awareness first.
In the new year when everyone is back at work (ugh…) we will be thinking about a leaflet campaign so bikers become aware. Will post more info when known.
If a charge of £1:00 a day would give the opportunity to clear out the scooters that are parked and never move from month to month I am actually a supporter of charging. There should be ample space for us but there’s far too many people who have bought a heap of ****e moped used it once and then abandoned it, entirely legally, in a bike bay.
Sorry can’t bring myself to sign this petition, not unless someone comes up with a better idea.
So you’d be quite happy to fork out £1.50 per day or maybe £150 pa (or more) for a permit - for what ?
If there were borough wide security devices in the bays then that might help. But the council have dismissed that idea saying “they do not work in practice”. What that means I don’t know?
The fact is that Westminster are not receiving as much revenue from their car spaces as they used to due to congestion charging. So in areas where the revenue is down they will extend the bike bays and reduce the number of car parking spaces. Then once they introduce parking fees for bikes they will have a revenue stream to compensate for the money they have been losing.
As biker you are going to get nothing - if you think you are then you are naive. This is purely a money raising exercise by the council.
And on a seperate note. What happens when you travel between boroughs - you’ll going to be happy paying for a permit for each of em are you?
Actually I may, just may get a space to park without riding around for an hour at a time looking for somewhere that is not full of forgotten pieces of **** mopeds.
Just this would more than likely save me more than £150 a year in wasted fuel.
Petitions are all very well but the simple fact is that there is not enough bike parking in Town and if they just increase it it will fill up again with machines that rarely, if ever move.
I agree about the security thing though, but are you saying that if they did provide ground anchors etc in the bike bays you’d happily pay a pound a day?
I, for one, havent seen parking bays in London full of abandoned mopeds. local authorities have a procedure for removing and disposing off abandoned vehicles. Please avail of it rather then support bike parking charges.
Also, if you think the charge will be a mere few pounds a day you’re bieng naive. It will effectivly make it unaffordable for those of us who use our bikes to commute into town.
There is one glaring error that stopped me twice from signing - the CAPTCHA code box makes it look as though there are only four characters to be entered, which is incorrect. It would help if you stated the number of characters required, or sorted the CAPTCHAs.
As with any CAPTCHA system they are not always clear - thats the point lol. However, if you can’t see the letters then you can refresh the CAPTCHA code by clicking on this button that says “Reload Code” next to it.
Just refresh it until the code is clear for you.
I have to say that there CAPTCHA systems out there that are much more illegable than our one
Anyway, just want to say thanks to everyone so far who has signed the Petition - your support is appreciated.
that says “Reload Code” next to it.