Posted: 5th March 2010 | 5 Comments »
Updated Sat 6th March…
The BBC announced today that Westminster City Council’s parking department is facing an EU Probe over “alleged contractual irregularities” – a fact that I first reported back on the 7th of December last year. However, the beeb go on to link that investigation with news today that Alastair Gilchrist, the leading officer behind Westminster Council’s hugely unpopular M/C parking tax scheme, was “too busy” to deliver a key speech at a parking services conference to explain the merits of the PIP ‘Framework Agreement’ on which the scheme is based.
As is often the case with these sorts of things though, there is more to these events than has come to light as yet. Not least of which is that there is even bigger news to report since the BBC were told by the EU Commission that they are at the “first stage of our infringement proceedings” – and that If they are content with the UK government reply, they will close the case – but if not, “we move to the second stage of infringement proceedings”.
Now, I have just heard a whisper from a usually well informed and reliable source in the land of Brussel Sprouts that the EU Commissioners may not be as satisfied by the explanations they have had so far that procurement procedures were fine and dandy – as promoters of the scheme might hope. And, although nothing is confirmed as yet, I gather that it could even be the case that that sleeves are being rolled up in readiness to open the second phase of EU investigations…
Anyway, for those who are new to these events, PIP, aka Partnerships In Parking is a consortium of London councils which was set up and led by Westminster’s officer Gilchrist and Cabinet Member, Cllr, Danny Chalkley who have both featured in a number of recent posts here and on other motorcycling blogs here in the UK and France.
However, I am wondering if Gilchrist really was too busy, as he told the BBC, or if he might be loosing his bottle to espouse the virtues of a contractual arrangement that is the focus for a rising pile of legal challenges and an investigation by the EU commissioners. Oh, and lest we forget, there is also that matter of a Fraud allegation and potential investigations that may be on Gilchrist’s mind as well.
Currently I have no way of determining whether Gilchrist was too busy, so I will not indulge in idle speculation at this stage. Nevertheless, it does seem like an unfortunate coincidence of happenings in the hectic life of this would-be M/C parking tax pioneer to say the least. Anyway, all I can say for the moment regarding this officer who I have witnessed acting in bullish fashion in the past is this. Oh dear!
Posted: 7th February 2010 | 5 Comments »
As GMTV warned on their morning news and this slideshow shows, the ‘gathering’ demonstration ride organised by the NTBPT and mentioned in my previous post, did indeed bring traffic to a standstill in central London. You can also see a nice little film of these goings on here. Ironically, these ‘amateur’ protesters took a leaf out of the professionals’ latest book on high-tech road user tax extraction systems – as written by Messrs Gilchrist, Chalkley & Slick-Willy pay-by-phone merchants Verrus – & the ‘gathering’ was triggered by simultaneous multiple text alert. Cripes and gadzooks!
So, within minutes of the text going out, hundreds of peaceful but angered riders suddenly gathered at Trafalgar Square and began riding round it during a lunch time demo.
The most astonishing thing about the event though – apart from the fact that there seems to be nothing that the authorities could do to stop it happening – was to see how incredibly quickly a relatively small number of riders could bring all the roads into and out of Trafalgar Square to a gridlocked halt. As a fellow riders rights champion, BMF Chairman Anna Zee said to me once we’d all arrived at Milbank. “It was incredible to see what a huge impact a relatively small number of riders can have within three minutes of gathering together and starting to ride perfectly legally round a small but critically central roundabout…”
Anyway, once the protesters had made their point of protest about the bike parking tax plan being pushed by Westminster, the riders all moved on in appropriately dignified fashion through Whitehall and Parliament Square and were joined by over a 100 more to rally outside the Tory HQ at Milbank.
A key point for the demo was to encourage the Conservative party leaders and key members to think about the huge damage that one of it’s flagship council’s (Westminster City Council no less) is doing to their reputation by trying to impose a new Stealth Tax on riders of powered two wheelers.
Currently, the word from Tory central office is that they regard this attempt to pioneer an unprecedented extra tax against a key group of vulnerable road users as a ‘Local Matter’. Correspondingly, I have it from the highest levels inside Tory HQ that this unprecedented plan to create a new M/C parking tax and spread it across the UK is something that party leaders are not going to bother about or to consider in a broader context. But I’d add, yet.
In my view, which I have shared with their top transport policy adviser and a couple of Tory MPs who were prepared to listen so far, this could be a very grave mistake unless they think again about a plan to impose an extra new tax on UK riders. Especially as just about all of the million plus motorbike and scooter riders in Britain also just happen to be VOTERS as the RAV campaign is beginning to explain in time for the next election.
It is also crucial for me to point out that it is not just the Tories who are seeming to hide behind the excuse that ‘this is a local issue’ while turning a blind eye to bad or unjustifiable policy decisions to create new revenue streams via ‘motoring’ taxes. After all, the Labour party and Lib Dem central office have also all held back from anything remotely close to condemning this stealth tax for what it is
But sadly, up until now my suggestions and indeed those from others in the motorcycling community have fallen on stony ground. Nevertheless, there is also some very good news for all concerned with treating riders as part of the solution to many congestion problems instead of seeing them just as a target for a bit more ‘motoring’ tax.
I learned late on Friday that the Office of Fair Trading OFT has reconsidered it’s earlier attempt to try and pass the buck for investigation of claims that Westminster have bent or broken rules to ensure trading is done fairly. After a great deal of work on submissions to the OFT by Graham of NTBPT and a couple of tweaks that I added to his latest contact with them their new position looks like this:
“Due to the complexity of the issues you have raised your case has been passed to our Preliminary Investigations Team and has been allocated thirty working days for research and response.”
Well done to all concerned I say – and round 1 to the NTBPT!
Posted: 21st January 2010 | 8 Comments »
I am rarely surprised by the depths that a desperate politician will plunge to, while trying to justify action that stinks. In my experience this often happens when a plan for a government move is being pushed that is nothing more than state backed extortion or highway robbery – and that looks to most law abiding citizens like the acts of a robber baron rather than a servant of the people.
But as you can see by the expression on Cllr Chalkley’s face, even he is struggling to make it look straight as he tries to deny that his council’s latest plan to end ‘free’ parking in London’s West End and throughout Westminster, is just a new way to screw more cash from riders of motorcycles and scooters and motorists.
On the face of it this latest plan by WCC may seem like very bad news. In essence it is to put parking charges up again and end ‘free’ parking on single yellow lines up till midnight! But I think that there is a huge silver lining to this otherwise very dark cloud, and especially for all who have been battling with Westminster over their attempts to make an ‘experimental’ M/C parking tax a permanent fixture. More details at NTBPT. The bottom line here for me is that this latest move is already being seen by the majority of people and businesses in the West End as nothing more than a revenue grabbing move that will do a great deal more harm to all concerned than good. In turn, this majority in the heart of the capital will start to see the riders who have taken to the streets to oppose the council’s tax attacks on them less like a nuisance – and more like knights in shinning armour – and no matter whether the steeds they ride are great big motorbikes or nifty scooters.
Another key factor here for me – and IMHO all riders to consider – is that this is NOT A PARTY POLITICAL ISSUE. Westminster are of course a Tory council, but UK councils of every colour including Labour and Lib Dem, have, up until now, followed WCC’s lead in creating ever more sophisticated cash cows for milking motorists in the name of ‘traffic management’ – and supposedly ‘encouraging’ people to walk, cycle or go by privatised ‘public transport’. And, of greatest concern to me, they are also watching with keen interest to see if Westminster can get away with turning all motorcycle and scooter riders into a new source of local revenue by imposing extra road user taxes targeted at them.
Now, back to my views on the latest in Westminster and the pic of Chalkley. My choice of image may seem a tad unfair as this shot may have caught him at a ‘bad’ moment. Even more revealing though (as you can see in the BBC interview linked below) is the long pause as he says “…err…” while composing himself to deliver a statement that looks to me like a bit of a fib! To be frank though, anyone prone to strong feelings about weaselly attempts to justify more tax, under the cover of ecoist faith or ‘traffic management’, may even suggest that what our elected member may be saying about Westminster’s latest plan is a heaving steamer!
Nevertheless, in the sprit of fairness and decency that I try to live and write by, all I can say about whether lies are being told or not is that you will have to make your own mind up. And, you may find this live BBC interview helpful in drawing your own conclusions.
What I will say though is that one of things that troubles me most about this latest plan to end what is commonly described as ‘free’ parking – including by the objectivity seeking BBC – is that PARKING A MOTORCYCLE, SCOOTER OR ANY OTHER PRIVATE MOTOR VEHICLE IS NEVER FREE in Britain. As I and others have said before, all law abiding vehicle owners in the UK pay far more in motoring taxes and duties than most people in the developed world, and vastly more than is ever spent on public highways.
Lastly, I will add that the real reasons why congestion continues to be a great problem in UK towns and cities, and especially Westminster has nothing to do with parking as dear old Danny Chalkley and many others claim. The key causes of ongoing and often worsening congestion is that most local authorities continue cutting the amount of road space that the majority of people are allowed to use. Let battle continue in the fight against robber barons – were ever and who ever they may be and whatever they’re trying to nick, be-it our cash or public highway road space!
Posted: 14th January 2010 | 7 Comments »
So, Westminster City Council (WCC) have finally decided to go-ahead with plans to make their ‘experimental’ and unprecedented pay-by-phone M/C parking tax a permanent measure. The decision by Cllr Danny Chalkley (right) to authorise new Traffic Orders to do this – as recommended by officers led by ‘this is not a revenue stream’ Alistair Gilchrist (left), will take effect on 25th January. 
Of course this is potentially very bad news for all UK riders as it could trigger a nationwide roll-out of new bike parking charges. If such charges do go nationwide it could cost the motorcycling community a staggering £93,000,000 per year, according to the Tax Payers Alliance who support objectors to what they see as a tax in all but name. But there is some good news. The leading opponents of the move NTBPT say that the WCC decision also opens doors for legal challenges on a number of fronts.
So, although WCC may regard the matter as closed by their decision, this is not the case as far as I am concerned and i am delighted to report that I am far from being alone in that view. And as I’ve reported a few days ago, some scallywags in our midst have been so angered by what they see as a totally unfair and unjustifiable scheme, that they have gone to the extremes of taking the law into their own hands. Within two days of me and other biker bloggers breaking news about this move, many signs explaining how the scheme works at M/C parking bays had been defaced. And, as regular visitors here will know, these shocking acts made the controversial charges technically unenforceable within UK Traffic Act regulations. But the facts as I see them are that the vast majority of protests and objections have been made in legitimate forms and superbly led by the NTBPT and their thousands of supporters who are the focal point for opposition to Westminster’s regressive scheme.
And, although I and others concerned with this nasty rider’s tax must stress that we can’t condone actions that cross the line into any forms of illegal activity, it was cheering to hear NTBPT chairman Warren Djanogly’s initial response to news of the WCC decision, which in his in his generally robust campaigning style was to say to me. “Let battle commence!” Now though, Warren has spoken in more measured tones to identify the basis for further challenges and work to get the charging scheme scrapped. “Cllr Chalkley’s decision to make the scheme permanent has opened a window for us to launch a full legal challenge.” In a nutshell what this means is that NTBPT are now proceeding with legal challenges having already raised the magnificent sum of £30,000 for a ‘fighting fund’ to cover legal costs.
One challenge is in the form of a formal demand for an official Public Inquiry into the legitimacy of the ‘experiment’ on which WCC based their decision to press ahead with the scheme. Other NTBPT challenges have prompted the District Audit Office and the Office of Fair Trading to investigate their claims and outlines of evidence that the council has breached various regulations that govern procurement and tendering procedures for UK local authorities. And, as my news story for MSL magazine highlighted, the EU Commissioners are also investigating what WCC may have been up to that wasn’t quite the way it should have been.
Yesterday I did the decent investigative thing and called WCC to get the latest on what Danny Chalkley had to say about his latest move . As you’d expect, he defended his decision and told me that he ‘understands’ that “charging to park is not popular with some motorcyclists”, but he also claimed that “it is fair and reasonable that motorcyclists, contribute to the cost of improvements and the maintenance of transport infrastructure.” But I have a big problem trying to accept this line of argument. In fact, as far as I can see, Danny has a big problem with it too. After all, as we all know now, thanks to diligent probes and many Freedom of Information (FOI) requests, the facts of life about the money already extracted from rider’s pockets show that this argument is unsustainable to say the least – and complete and utter tosh to be a tad more accurate.
The relentless barrage of FOI requests forced the council to admit that they have already taken over £2 million from riders during the ‘trial’ of the charges. And even by their well spun calculations, WCC Inc. have already trousered a net surplus of at least £500,000 after all costs of ‘improvements’ and setting up their ultra sophisticated pay-by-phone system have been paid for.
So where are we now? Well, in the course of my attempts to scrape a living from writing about the stuff that bothers UK riders today, I did a round up of what the key players in our rider’s rights groups think and have to say.
What do Rider’s Rights groups and the Motorcycling industry say and call for now?
Updated Friday 15 Jan, 08.45 The first comments on this blog have been about the UK Motorcycle Industry’s position during the course of this campaign and now. In the light of that I have added a link to the MCIA page explaining their position in full and add what I regard as the most pertinent section immediately below and prior to my summary posted last night. I will be talking to the MCIA spokesman for Public Affairs soon, hopefully today, and will encourage the industry to update it’s position now that WCC have decided to go-ahead with their scheme whilst retaining the ‘demand management’ objective as an official reason to impose new extra charges for the use of motorcycles and scooters in Westminster.
From MCIA Policy statement
“MCI is concerned that the justification for the parking charge may have moved from being one of paying for improved parking service provision for motorcyclists, to one of ‘demand management,’ intended to deter motorcycle use. WCC officials have sought to assure the Association that the basis of the charge is service provision.
However, the current Westminster CC ‘Unitary Development Plan’ (UDP) specifically states that parking charges for motorised vehicles are levied on the basis of ‘demand management’. MCI is opposed to many of the principles of the ‘demand management’ philosophy, as this has often been used as an excuse to discourage powered vehicles and in particular PTWs, and is urging WCC to clarify and resolve this apparent contradiction.”
Back to original summary…
Let’s start with the The Motor Cycle Industry Association (MCIA). And yes I know that there are some riders & campaigners who have been a bit frustrated by a somewhat restrained level of action regarding the M/C parking tax issue so far. But the MCIA position as I understand it is quite clearly that it wants the scheme withdrawn because a key official objective for the charges, in Westminster’s core policy document called the UDP, is to ‘manage demand’ for M/C bays by introducing ‘fees’ to deter riders from parking and therefore using PTWs on central London streets.
MAG’s General Secretary, Nich Brown, put the debate over bike parking fees into a clear perspective earlier today and offers good advice about what riders can do and says this. “The argument that riders should pay to park on roads operated by local councils, is fundamentally flawed. Riders pay far more in taxes than the benefit they receive when using the roads. Every year the councils raid the money they should be spending to make roads safer for motorcycles by ensuring road repairs last more than five minutes and providing non-slip manhole covers and access to bus lanes.” He then added that “Until all councils ‘think bike’, there can be no question of charging to park on the street.” Nich then suggests that “MAG’s RAV campaign (supported by BMF and MCI) is giving thousands of riders an opportunity to quiz would-be MPs and councillors. ‘Why should I give you my vote?’ is one of the most powerful ways to get what we want.” (http://www.ridersarevoters.org)
Now as far as chairman of the NTBPT Warren Djanogly is concerned he has said this. “Cllor Chalkley’s decision to make the scheme permanent has opened a window for us to launch a full legal challenge. It’s going to be expensive but if just 5,000 bikers contributed £10 each (less than a tank of fuel), we can beat this evil stealth tax.” In response, the BMF has called on all UK motorcyclists to chip in whatever they can. Chris Hodder, the BMF’s Government Relations Executive said. “These parking charges run contrary to the Government’s aim to ‘mainstream’ motorcycling but the only option now available is to overturn the scheme in the courts. If we don’t, this could spell the nationwide end of free parking for motorcycles. Now is the time to stand up and be counted and support the NTBPT fighting fund.” Currently the fund stands at £30,000, but needs at least another £20,000 to meet the expected minimum legal costs of £50,000.
Finally, MAG’s campaigns co-ordinator Paddy Tyson summarises the current situation in a way that I agree with wholeheartedly. “The serious nature of this situation really shouldn’t be underestimated. MAG understands that all local councils are underfunded, but motorcycling is certainly not the resource they should turn to as an extra source of revenue.” He adds. “PTWs can help local authorities actually reduce costs, by reducing congestion and infrastructural damage as well as emissions, so motorcycle and scooter riders shouldn’t be penalised and discouraged. MAG fully supports NTBPT and urges councils around the country not to adopt a policy which in essence is counter productive.”
Posted: 8th January 2010 | 2 Comments »
Last night, Crossroads Rider broke the news that Westminster council will press ahead with trying to make their controversial motorcycle parking tax a permanent feature in the centre of London. But I can now report that the council have begun their fightback against protesters by replacing defaced signs. As you can see from the pictures, a team of contractors has already been dispatched to take down signs that are defaced as this invalidates the council’s rights to enforce their new bike parking charge scheme. The council’s contractor Verrus can only make money for themselves and the council from the new scheme if motorbike and scooter riders pay-by-phone each day to park anywhere on public roads in the City of Westminster. It is said however that revenues dropped significantly after the council admitted that their parking enforcement contractors are not entitled to issue Penalty Charge Notices PCNs in locations where parts of the scheme’s signs had become illegible.
Now, of course, I cannot and will not condone acts of protest that could be construed as vandalism. But I am not convinced that this latest move by the council will prove to be decisive in drawing this row over new parking fees to a sustainable conclusion.
Posted: 7th January 2010 | 7 Comments »
Cabinet member for transport Cllr Danny Chalkley (right) has just told me by email that he has made his decision regarding the trial of a controversial new motorbike parking tax in Westminster. And the decision is to uphold his officer’s recommendations led by Alastair Gilchrist (left) to make the scheme permanent – so he has authorised the officers to 
draw up traffic orders for a permanent scheme . However, I have already had heard opponents of the scheme suggesting that this is far from the end of this saga. Chris Hodder of the BMF says. “This is further proof that democracy is failing in Westminster as thousands of people have objected to this ill-conceive and unnecessary scheme, but Westminster City Council have ridden roughshod over them.” He says then adds a warning. “But I don’t see any signs that opposition and protest is about to stop anytime soon”.
And now I have just had the chairman of the No To Bike Parking Tax opposition group, Warren Djanogly call to say that in their view this is a long way from being the end of their campaign against the scheme that has been running for over a year already. His message is simple but clear. “Let battle commence” he says. All I’ll say for now is that I am disappointed by this decision but I am not surprised – and I am also sure that this is not the end but the start of a new chapter in this story…
Posted: 28th December 2009 | No Comments »
As supporters of the Rage Against the Machine campaign have just shown, even the most powerful and smug controllers of what the public have to accept here in Britain, can be humbled by effective protests that are coordinated via the internet.
Getting those who have great influence to make better distinctions between having the power to manipulate, ‘control’ or simply ignore public opinion – and whether they are right to use it for their own ends – is always a battle. But it sure feels good to see one of those battles won for a change in the music world.
And, albeit on a smaller scale, I think this has an intriguing relevance to the ongoing saga of Westminster City Council’s (WCC) attempts to pioneer new high-tech systems to tax riders of motorbikes and scooters – by making them pay to park on the public roads that they have already paid many times over to use. I have just learned that Cllr Danny Chalkley has now got the latest and final version of his ‘Officer’s Report‘ in to consider.
This reviews events so far, as far as the council officers see them, and recommends whether WCC should make their ‘experimental’ rider’s tax permanent. Danny had asked for a re-write of the previous version of report which recommended going ahead with the new tax. That followed various private meetings and comments from NTBPT, MAG, BMF, and yours truly. This demand for a re-write prompted a glimmer of hope for some of us that sense would at last prevail and the power of arguments that a new UK rider’s tax would do far more harm than good, would finally be recognised. But no…
I have now read the report and can tell you that all it’s author did was add a few spurious responses to key criticisms and the recommendation to go-ahead with this potential new stealth-tax stands. Critically though, and I have already told Danny this, some of these responses will create a new focus for problems if, as I suspect they will, WCC decide to plough on with trying to get away with keeping this new revenue stream flowing. I gather though that DC’s decision will now be made early in the new year, so more on that when it happens. In the meantime, I will carry on with my reflections on recent doings.
From what I have seen so far, on the inside and the outside, it strikes me that there are strong parallels between the way that Simon Cowell of X Factor fame carries on – and the contemptuous attitudes to public opinion that are exhibited by some in Westminster who are involved with pushing this regressive tax on users of Powered Two Wheelers (PTW) – which are IMHO a vital, green and highly efficient mode of transport – especially in our congested towns and cities. However, it is worth noting that although Cowell has a bit of egg on his face, he is doubtless a great deal richer nevertheless – and smart enough to continue raking in loads more cash. And frankly, if folks want to keep spending their hard-earned on keeping Simon in the luxurious lifestyle to which he is accustomed, so be it. I am not a fan of telling anyone what to do with their cash.
What I’m still pondering though is how far the parallels may run. Will the sometimes smug controllers inside Westminster City Hall get away with no egg on face? There could well be a lot of egg to come from various sources. These include the ongoing and escalating campaign of protests organised by NTBPT and splinter groups like the RATS – and the outcomes from various legal challenges that are already being investigated and one that is waiting in the wings if the scheme goes permanent.
Perhaps most important question of all though is whether Westminster’s controllers are smart enough to cut and run if that is actually the best thing to do for all concerned, or to try and dig themselves into the trenches while they keep raking in the cash no matter how much egg gets thrown.
Far be it for me to predict or proscribe what will happen next, but I just found a little something that may show how smart or inappropriately smug the bike park tax pioneers are. While on a hunt for something else on the web, I found some extraordinary admissions by our hero/villain of the hour, Alistair Gilchrist. Now I doubt that any of these will surprise those who read my musings – but the fact that they are just sitting there may at the very least raise a wry smile. Anyway, according to Alistair, Westminster City Council were the bad boys on the UK’s billion pound parking enforcement industry block back in 2003. He made this admission as the senior officer responsible for parking services in a recent conference and his Power Point Presentation can be seen in all its glory here.
Alistair was clearly so confident at the time about the council’s plans to expand the scope of parking tax schemes that he showed examples of public anger at the council’s abuse of its power in the ‘bad old days’ – and this note (left) of what some of the public really think about promises that all will be fine in the future. The question now is, was he right to be so confident then or now?
It seems to me that despite great efforts to rid themselves of that ‘bad boy’ parking cash-cow squeezing image, the reputation of those in charge of parking controls in the heart of London could be about to plunge to even greater depths. If it soldiers on with this new tax scheme, the council will have to face more battles and on several fronts. The audit commission has begun investigating the way that contracts were awarded to Verrus, and the EU Commissioners are about to start their own investigation into other complaints about the way hat this was handled.
So, all of us who are concerned with or about the prospect of new taxes for PTW riders are left with a few questions to consider. Will Westminster City Council now decide that it’s ‘experiment’ to impose a new tax on motorbikes and scooter riders is not really the best way to go – and especially in very tough times for most of us? Or, will they continue to try and get away with making it a permanent and growing part of UK life for riders, and a new source of revenue stream for a council near you? Or, lastly for now, will rage against this new tax machine prototype become the ultimately decisive factor?
* This headline has a root in the title of a film & book called All Quite On The Western Front. This is in part about gaps in understanding of reality between front line fighters & those in power who create situations in which hard battles sometimes need to be fought and won. There are many plot reviews out there but this summary has fewer ads for dentistry and explains the title in the end.
Hope y’all had a Happy Christmas for those who believe in that sort of thing, and have a Cool Yule & New Year for those with faith in other reasons to be cheerful!
Posted: 18th December 2009 | No Comments »
It is not my style to ‘name & shame’ but I feel compelled to say that the time draws nigh when two would-be pioneers of a new motorbike & scooter parking tax in Britain will be seen as heroes or villains, and by whom…
You may well wonder who this fellow on the right is and what he might have to offer us in our ongoing quest for reasons to be cheerful – and especially now the season of goodwill to all etc. is upon us, while the future of life on earth hangs in the balance for some. Well, all as I see it about this bloke will be revealed shortly. And, depending on what his boss, Cllr Danny Chalkley (DC) on the left decides, life will eventually either get better or worse for us all in UK towns and cities and especially so for riders of motorbikes or scooters. Amongst other things, the bloke on the right is a very senior officer at Westminster City Council who was asked to re-write his second officer’s report recommending that the council makes its ‘experimental’ M/C parking charges scheme permanent. For an alternative view of this scheme go to No To Bike Parking Tax
The re-write is finally done and submitted to DC so he, as cabinet member for transport at WCC can decide whether to go ahead with the new UK biking tax or scrap it. DC emailed me this week to say that he will “make that decision within the next week”. But please bear with me and join in on a Yuletide ramble to get to the bottom of who is really doing what and why, and whether these two characters will be heroes or villains and will their next move be for the greater good, or all about the money…
All sorts of stuff, and a fair amount of nonsense goes on in the festive season. It is of course also the time when we are all supposed to be especially jolly and nice to each other etc. There are however a number of Bah Humbuggers who say that’s all tosh.
The most fervent humbuggers are deeply sceptical about the merits of mass immersion into temporary enthusiasm for extra jollity. Just SAY NO they shout to falsely bearded Santas and smiling, some even say no to drinking yerself sillier than usual. A few humbuggers go as far as seeing a dark side. It’s not about the peace-and-love-man spirit of Christmas they say grimly. It’s all about the money honey, and warn that there are sharks out there who just want to screw you for as much as they can and in whatever ways they can get away with. Darker still, while everybody and their mate and their dog are wobbling around with feelings of goodwill to all and sundry, or just legless, it can be a jolly good time for ne’er do wells to do their dastardly worst. This even includes cunning or desperate government bods who need to try and slip a bit of bad news into the world while our ears and eyes are elsewhere.
Now, this is where our chap on the right may or may not come in. He is Alistair Gilchrist, Director of Parking at Westminster City Council & M.D. of Westco Trading Ltd. And, IMHO, dear Alistair is the real driving force behind what I regard as a nasty new high-tech tax on motorbike parking – first in London – and in a town near you next. But as I know from past experience, when it comes to motorbike parking charge schemes, Alistair has a bit of history for trying to slip things in, or occasionally letting things slip out, while he hopes that no-one important is paying much attention.
I vividly remember the first time AG tried to introduce a scheme to make riders pay to park their congestion busting motorbikes and scooters in the centre of London on Westminster’s patch. He and WCC ignored objections but soon found out that coin operated parking meters issuing pay and display tickets wouldn’t work and nor did the other variants he tried. So, poor Alistair and his wannabe bike parking charging chums ended up with big egg on face – but that was just the first time around.
Now, pay-by-mobile-phone technology has come to his rescue. And, as he let slip at the last meeting of the Cross Party Parliamentary Motorcycling Group. “We’ve always wanted to get bikes to pay for parking but didn’t have the technology till now”. In parallel to this, Danny Chalkley has convinced me that he really doesn’t want the new bike parking fees to deter riders from using bikes in Westminster, although the only official reason left standing for the scheme is good old ‘demand management’ which is all about deterring folk from using particular modes. But, like Alistair, Danny is a director of Westco, and indeed its Chairman, and Westco just happens to be in the business of supplying parking ’services’.
But why would anybody want to set up a business within a council? Well, the answer is the same as it is for any business, it is to make money. And as we all know money makes the world go round and charging to park on public roads is a great way to make loads of money if you have the local authority powers to do so. So, the big question now for Alistair and Danny during the season to be merry is this. Are you going to be heroes and bin this attempt to screw more money out of riders who are doing there bit to cut congestion and save the planet by reducing pollution? Or, are you going to stick with the plan to get a bit more cash, put people off riding bikes and scooters and consolidate you appearance to many as the Scrooges or villains of the peace? I sincerely hope you will be heroes…
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