Posted: 17th May 2010 | 2 Comments »
UPDATE Wed, 26th May: It crossed my mind that the new guy to take responsibility for the bike parking tax saga may have as little idea as poor old Danny did about the full extent of ongoing problems he will be facing. So, being the kind and considerate soul I try to be, I have made contact with his P.A. and suggested that he and I might get together for a private chat to give him a bigger and more accurate picture of what is really going on – and that like-it-or-not the problems will not go away till the tax is ditched. The good news is that is that he would “like to meet’, but the bad news is that his availability is “very limited at the moment”.
But having sent him a copy of recent letter from WCC leader Cllr Barrow, which seems to show that the leader may be trying to mislead a Conservative MP about the ‘reasons’ for the scheme, I have just been told that this has been passed to the new bod so I live in hope that this will improve his availability, but I won’t be holding my breath in the meantime…
I hear that Cllr Danny Chalkley, who was the cabinet member responsible for pioneering the much hated bike parking tax in Westminster may be feeling a bit grey. It is confirmed today that he is out of the council’s cabinet in a reshuffle. It is also confirmed that the new bod on the block for transport and parking schemes in Westminster is Lee Rowley
One bio of Rowley says he’s a ‘transport consultant’. If so that could be handy as his new post is called ‘Cabinet Member for Parking and Transportation’, and he will have responsibility for parking enforcement, major traffic projects, road safety, relations with TfL and utility companies.
Some have already described Chalkley’s exit as a ‘sacking’. But, although there has been a significant change, I have no news on the real reason for his exit. He certainly made it clear to me some months ago that he had totally had enough of being the in that post – although he didn’t go into great detail about why.
But the biggest question right now about this move is what, if anything will it mean for the future of the bike parking tax? Is the council simply adding a new gun to continue trying to blaze a trail for this totally unjustified new tax on parking scooters and motorbikes? Or, are Westminster’s big burghers finally seeing sense and taking the first step to pave the way to bin the barmy bike tax?
Cllr Paul Dimoldenberg, leader of the Labour opposition in Westminster and frequent critic of the council’s handling of parking management certainly hopes so. Dimoldenberg tells me that Cllr Chalkley has “paid the price for the very many parking failures that have engulfed Westminster over recent years.” He then adds a call to scrap the ‘much hated’ motorbike parking tax:
“We now call on the new Cabinet Member for Parking, Councillor Lee Rowley, to finally see sense and to scrap the hated motorbike parking tax. It is time to start afresh and the only way to do this is for the Council to admit that the motorbike parking charges have been an incredibly unpopular and expensive mistake”
Cllr Colin Barrow, Conservative leader of the council who still owes his own council at least £19,186, offers a different view. “Westminster is one of the best and most cost effective authorities in the country.” And he goes on to say that the new appointments have been made “to ensure we continue to provide excellent value for money for local taxpayers while strengthening our services to vulnerable people” – unless of course you happen to ride a scooter or motorbike and need to park it in the centre of London.
Like countless thousands of others, I certainly hope that good sense is at last starting to prevail in future plans for motorcycle parking in central London – and a town near you next. But, I should add that clear examples of good sense being combined with parking policies in Westminster are hard to find – so holding breath while waiting for the next example to come along is not advised…
Posted: 12th May 2010 | 2 Comments »
Update to blog. We now have a new Secretary of State for Transport. His name is Philip Hammond and although he is new to the transport policy arena, my sources tell me that he is unquestionably bright and by all accounts so far, as good an egg as we could hope for in these challenging times. Even the Guardian describe him as an “Intelligent picador” However, what with one thing and several others, this post now looks set to remain a work in progress and normal service will have to wait until after the Sunday – and my return from the forthcoming annual gathering of around 80,000 people with a common interest in motorcycles scooters and trikes and who make a pilgrimage each year to the East of England Showground for the BMF Show this weekend…
The first coalition government since 1945, has changed the way Britain will be governed in the foreseeable future. Now, as a new style of UK government takes shape, the key people behind the highly successful Riders Are Voters campaign (RAV) and yours truly, reckon that this creates some seriously good new possibilities for improving the way that UK riders issues are addressed.
But in my view, there is one key factor above all for riders to keep in mind. Whatever you think of our hung Parliament and the MPs who will be in a coalition government that is going to decide what happens next, one thing is certain. ‘Minorities’ can have more influence on the shape and direction of future policies than they have in living memory. And as it happens, although riders of motorcycles and scooters are a minority; with 3 million motorcycle licence holders in Britain, 1.3m scooters and bikes on the road, and more than 60,000 people employed in biking businesses, we are a ****ing big minority and one that is growing bigger all the time.
It is also an undeniable fact (unless you are a head in the sand anti-bike loony) that increasing use of scooters and motorcycles is an essential part of the solution to the many chronic problems that arise from urban and inter-urban road congestion. And to help to ease the economic and social exclusion problems that many face due to inadequacies in our overstretched transport system. Traveling by foot, bicycle bus or train is fine and dandy for some trips but not, as a matter of demonstrable fact, for all or even most trips that real people and real goods really need to go on.
But the new situation also means that we will have to fight more effectively than ever to get our views heard and action taken to deliver any real progress during the new parliamentary term. We are not alone in the queue of minorities wanting sharper focus on our concerns and more action than talk about progress.
So here is a key fact or two about our new parliamentarians that may have gone noticed amidst all the recent fuss about who is doing what with who. Of the 649 MPs elected on 6th May, 232 were not doing that job before and most are completely new to it.
However, fortunately for all concerned about UK riding issues, the big influx of new MPs was no surprise to the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG). For quite a long time in advance, they knew and some of us had been discussing the fact that a large number of MPs were retiring at the election or ‘jumping before they were pushed’. Clearly, with appropriate campaign action on behalf of all riders, this presented a great opportunity to make sure that the fresh Parliament is more rider-friendly than the last. Working on that basis, MAG invited the British Motorcyclists Federation (BMF), the Motorcycle Industry Association (MCIA) and the Auto Cycle Union (ACU) to join forces under the RAV campaign banner.
Key Facts 2: Around 5,000 voters in each constituency may be directly affected by motorbike related policy and legislation.
So, in order to ensure that riders and politicians took more notice of these facts of voting life, the RAV team organised ‘Riders Question Time’ events throughout the UK. In effect, as some of you may have experienced first hand, these events were like old-fashioned hustings in bike dealers’ showrooms where the audience of riders would be on familiar ground and able to express their concerns and views and hear what the candidates’ had to say for themselves and the parties they were representing.
But now that the voting is all over, the real work of the RAV concept and promoters of riders interests is about to start in earnest. And the bottom line for riders who want to influence the way they get treated by our new government is this. The issue of who’s in number ten Downing Street is obviously a matter for chewing the fat over for a while, but is probably far less important than it may seem.
The really crucial thing to think about and do next is this. A more effective way needs to be developed to ensure that riders’ concerns about various critical issues are brought to the attention of the whole range of MPs we now have, in the most effective and clear way possible. Obviously the NTBPT and it’s fabulous array of supporters are doing a great job regarding the totally unjustifiable bike parking tax in Westminster.
But that is just one of many critical elements of policy development that can have a big impact on all UK riders. So I will end for now by saying that UK riders have a better opportunity to influence government thinking they have had for generations. And for what it’s worth, I think that the prospects of making the most of these opportunities will depend on two things above all. First, it will be essential that various rider groups stay focused on working co-cooperatively not competitively. Secondly, that the best way to ensure that this happens is by riders of all persuasions doing all they can to support – and do some of the ongoing work that needs to done in accord with the Riders Are Voters concept and ongoing campaign.
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