Motorcycles are more popular than ever in England.
But rather than enjoying the camaraderie among fellow riders, British bikers are feeling the wrath of parking fees.
As of January 25th riders will be charged £1 a day for on-street parking in Westminster, a part of London. The council’s decision to levy the fee makes it the first London authority to do so.
Motorcycle enthusiasts have been protesting the inevitable road trip that led to the parking fees for some time. British motorcycle advocacy groups and even the Mayor of London condemned parking fees Westminster City Council imposed as a supposed ‘trial period’ as far back as August 2008.
Protests took the form of motorcycle enthusiasts slowly riding to Westminster’s ‘City Hall’ in late 2008 and several times last year. While some took the fight to the street, others took theirs to the street signs.
Thirty motorcycle parking road signs have been vandalized or stolen in the past five days, taking the cost of attacks directed at the scheme to £60,000 since trials began in August 2008. However, the signs haven’t been targeted for any reason more malicious than a legal opinion that parking fees aren’t enforceable if the sign detailing the costs in unreadable.
Confusing the argument, both sides of the dispute are using the same reasons to justify their own point of view.
Officials at Westminster claim riders should pay to park at about 6,100 on-street spaces after “dramatic” increases in demand for parking in central London.
Motorcycle enthusiasts consider free parking as a right of riders navigating one of Europe’s most congested cities. The protests gained nationwide attention in Britain with bikers concerned the parking fees would spread to other congested cities not only across the country, but throughout Europe.
Many experts agree motorcycle ownership in London soared by 50 per cent between 1997 and 2007. Westminster officials claim that even before the increase of bikers, motorcycle parking spots were oversubscribed by up to 150 per cent.
Regardless of what is said however, the parking fees will take effect as of January 24th. As for those protestors stealing the parking signs, officials have stepped up surveillance warning they will prosecute anyone found attacking the signs, which list regulations and hours.
You can avoid having to pay high London parking fees and fines by using the Tube and our text service to find free parking near tube stations outside the congestion zone.
Simply text the word Parking plus the name of a tube station OUTSIDE THE CONGESTION ZONE to 80039 and you’ll receive a text back giving you three locations near the tube, or the one closest to it on the same line.
“Simply text the word Parking plus the name of a tube station OUTSIDE THE CONGESTION ZONE to 80039 and you’ll receive a text back giving you three locations near the tube, or the one closest to it on the same line.”
That’s a great service for now. When the time comes that you local borough decide it’s a relatively small cost expenditure to start charging their residents to park (Partner in Parking have stated this as a goal) there too.
I’m afraid, it’s just fighting off the inevitable. Unless people start to snuff this out at its source, in five years time we’ll all be paying £1 (at least!) to park at the local tube/rail station and fares too.
Congestion is something that can be put easily aside to bring in a few extra quid… Or millions in Westminster’s case!
Why should noisy and polluting bikers have free parking when nobody else can? If ruined parking signs have cost the council £60,00o because of these bikers then the parking charges for these bikers must go up to pay for them.
I have heard it is illegal to remove a cover from a motorcycle if it is locked or secured in place. If so, could we get around the parking charge that way?
“Fight back now” means peaceful protests such as the M25 demo last Saturday, which involved thousands of bikers but went off with no trouble, accidents or prosecutions. The £1 a day will be the thin end of the wedge and is the latest in Westminster’s ‘robber baron’ tactics. On the other hand, WCC are being investigated by the Met for parking fraud: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/8518756.stm
In spite of over £80m revenue pa, they also wish to extend restictions for all vehicles till midnight. For info on the campaign see http://www.notobikeparking.com and for the dirty dealings at Westminster http://www.nutsville.com
if vou are a plumber or heating engineer or any tradesman, blacklist any MP and spread the word.this parking fiasco is nothing but a scam by these sickos, nice to know that these toerags would one day turn the heating on and it does not work.