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West End Extra - LETTERS TO THE EDITOR
Published: 12 December 2008

Why we oppose charges for parking bikes and mopeds

• RECENTLY Westminster City Council started charging us for parking our mopeds and scooters on our streets.
We are now being forced to pay £150 a year to park our scooters.
This charge is more than a resident’s car parking permit in fact.
Therefore, a lot of the motorcyclists, including residents, are not happy about these charges. Many of these scooter and moped riders are using this means of transport because it is the only way they can still afford to get around and get to and from work, as not everyone can afford a car.
Secondly, scooters produce much less greenhouse gas (CO2) than cars and
they actually help to reduce
the congestion on the
busy Westminster roads.
Others have been scared off using public transport because of the cost as well as the shock of the London bombings and have made a decision to use a scooter to commute instead.
Many people are against this “tax” being introduced and resent Westminster Council for being greedy and unfair. Already, despite the charging only having started fully in September, the revenue to the council from parking fees and the penalty charge notices they can now issue if someone hasn’t paid, massively outweighs the expense of providing the extra parking space that was needed, while promised security devices that would have been the major cost have not appeared.
The amount of profit the council will be making out of motorcyclists could well run anything up to about £2million to £3million per year.
We have started a petition against this unfair motorcycle parking tax and are trying to find as many people to support us as possible to have this scheme scrapped.
The scheme is up for review in February and we feel that motorcyclists have already more than paid their fair share towards the council, and its continuation would merely prove that the council is just trying to cash in on the popularity of scooters in these hard economic times, when all we are trying to do is make a living.
We need to bring this matter to people’s attention, and hopefully some will want to help to support our petition.
There is also a website for like-minded people to find out more: go to www.notobikeparkingfees.com
SOON HAN JOHNSON
Dean Street, W1

Send your letters to: The Letters Editor, West End Extra, 40 Camden Road, London, NW1 9DR or email to letters@westendextra.co.uk. The deadline for letters is midday Wednesday. The editor regrets that anonymous letters cannot be published, although names and addresses can be withheld.
Please include a full name, postal address and telephone number.
Letters may be edited for reasons of space.

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