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Money from motorcyclists already
more than enough
• I READ the letter from Councillor Danny Chalkley on motorcycling (May 22) with interest and, as he wants dialogue, here are a few facts for him to consider.
Even before the motorcycle parking charging “trial” began, the city council were already raising over £1million from motorcyclists by way of fines – noting that if a motorcycle is improperly parked, the fine is the same as for a huge lorry, despite the massively less traffic disruption it will cause, which seems rather disproportionate.
So, as the actual provision of extra parking spaces is essentially a few more painted lines on the road or in car parks, a £1million annual income from motorcyclists already seems to be more than enough to fund genuine improvements in parking for motorcycles, with still quite a lot left over for other transport issues.
When you now add in that during the “trial”, the council has netted around £3million from motorcyclists in just nine months, money which might otherwise have gone into the tills of hard-pressed retailers, compared with expenditure of around £400,000 on the scheme (the massive majority of which was purely telling motorcyclists “how to pay”), then you may understand why riders are slightly upset.
Added to that, if you don’t have a mobile phone and a credit card, then your only way to pay is with a “parking card”, which the council have admitted is not suitable for a motorcycle, yet that costs a minimum of £2, even if you know where to get one (well, do you?) as this is not advised on the signs?
Despite the claim of Cllr Chalkley that the city council “recognise that motorcyclists are an important part of the transport mix”, they were not quite so supportive when pressing Transport for London to impose the congestion charge on motorcyclists!
It is not the wish of motorcyclists to cause disruption to fellow travellers, but, as our voices do not seem to be heard any other way by this council, clearly intent on preserving revenue from their new stealth tax, I fear the demonstrations will continue.
That is, until Westminster City Council come to their senses and scrap this charge completely, content with the huge surplus they have already made from motorcyclists, who are doing their bit to reduce congestion CO2 emissions which induce global warming.
Cllr Chalkley has the authority to resolve it all, with just a few strokes of his pen.
Mike Jones
Address supplied, W1
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