Westminster Council

[BrettC]

sent to me by a non-trixer>>>

Westminster council has recently put forward a proposal to charge motorcyclists for parking in Central London and this could take effect as early as the summer (the charge could be between £1 and £1.50 per day). They claim that due to the congestion charge exemption and the cheaper cost involved in moving in and around London by motorcycle than public transport or car, the number of motorcyclists coming into Central London every day has increased and, as a result, they have to provide additional parking spaces to cope with the increasing demand.

According to the articles I have recently read in the press, a lot of people think that the proposal is totally unfair on the basis that motorcycles do not cause congestion, do not pollute as much as cars and buses and therefore their use should be encouraged. They are exempt from the congestion charge specifically for this reason. Again according to what I have read, a significant number of Westminster residents and other commuters have disposed of their car since the implementation of the congestion charge which has resulted, in addition to reduced congestion and pollution, in a large number of parking bays becoming unused. These bays could be allocated to motorcyclists at no significant extra cost to the council, which would allow motorcycle parking to remain free.

There is a petition on the 10 Downing Street website to ask the Government to stop local councils charging for motorcycle parking. Below is the link to access the petition on line:-

http://petitions.pm.gov.uk/FreeBikeParking/

If you do not ride a motorbike but think the proposal is unfair, please feel free to add your name to the petition.

Please show your support and sign the petition. Thanks!

[donatelo]

Hi Brett,seem's like yet another stealth tax to me I don't live anywhere near London but how long before the other clown council's cotton on an implement it as well so we should all be concerned,I wonder are they gonna use the revenue to make bike parking safe for us i,e steel bar's to chain up to ,cctv an such like,I doubt it,just another point for big brother in rip off Britain sad to say.Don

[Man-of-Mystery]

Perth & Kinross Council has recently allocated more free space to motorcycles, at no extra charge to anyone. So if anyone wants to quote a precedent to their local council...

Och it's braw in Scotland!

M-o-M

[minivin]

MAG were on the ball and gave us letters ready to send:

Project Centre
Saffron Court
14b St Cross Street
London
EC1N 8XA
Objection: Review of Motorcycle Parking in the Royal Borough Kensington & Chelsea


................................

It was an urgent letter that had to be in by 7th January as the debate closed after that date and no further objects could be put forward. I did my bit

[Ade B]

Much as I don't welcome the idea, not sure we have a right to park for free - its still less than a bus ticket...

If you can find a bike space in westminster after 9.00am its a miracle, I gave up ages ago and have a friend of a friend who just deposits bike on nearest basement light minus number plate and tax disc... as do the majority of soho/westminster bikes

Does anyone actually know if bikes produce less pollution than cars - my S (still with a cat) gives worse mpg than many small cars now and presumably chucks out as many emissions.

Suppose there is less of it to make, transport and then dispose of and therefore less embodied energy.. Not as clear cut as it first appears methinks.

Ade

[Man-of-Mystery]

Amongst the issues that cancel out the "mpg" argument are the following. A bike takes up less that a quarter of the space on the road, moving or parked, and therefore causes less congestion. A car typically carries no more than 20% of its carrying capacity, whereas a bike never carries less than 50%...

Do I really need to go on?

M-o-M

[tripe]

The most important factor is that a bike takes considerably less time to cover the distance meaning that emissions per miles travelled over time make the resultant emissions lower.

As to the Kensington and Chelseas plan that minivin mentioned, that affects me directly as I have my business there. The consultation period was the two weeks prior to 7th January. By the time most of us noticed it was the 10th. Quite a few residents who would have objected where conveniently away! The plan is different to Westminster , they are putting in resident only bays with ground anchors at a cost to residents of £18 per annum, not tooo bad you might say as they are extending the bays using car resident and pay and display spaces and.........some of the free bikes spaces.
No doubt our objections will be viewd as unscientific just like the extension to the congestion charge.

[Ade B]

Thats me told then...

Would be curious to see lifetime energy consumption of a bike vs. car... are bike consumables higher than a car's, what is a bike's typical lifespan compared with a car's, how much of a bike's components are from environmentally friendly sources and can be recycled - especially given the specialist lightweight alloys which seem to feature in the latest tackle.. I've bought one tyre for my car in 3 years, my annual bike mileage used to be high but now is about 1/2 of car mileage...

My gut feeling is bikes are greener simply by virtue of their smaller size; less materials, less energy to make and transport around, less energy to dispose of etc. but it would be intriguing (to me anyway) to see some proper facts. Cars are allegedly getting greener, you don't see many bike articles making reference to the environmental footprint of the latest 1000cc sports bike.

I'm not a tree hugger but my discussions with various environmentalists through my work have never resulted in a clear cut answer on any environmental question as there is always myriad variables to consider.. currently being told by one chap that recycled plastic is greener than european softwood!

To get back on topic, I would happily pay 18 quid pa to lock my bike to a street anchor.

Ade

[jivebiker]

My wife's car is supposed to do 35mpg on it's "Urban Cycle" (whatever that is!). I've measured the fuel consumption, and she averaged (over a whole years use) 23.8mpg. No doubt because she spends a huge amount of time stuck in traffic.

Last time I went through London everyone seemed to be stuck in traffic, except the bikes, who were all having fun filtering. Even in these conditions I get well over 30mpg.

[tripe]

I would happily pay the 18 quid to use the ground anchor in Kensington and Chelsea too, its the seven figure sum for a family house that I have the problem with

[Ade B]

I would happily pay the 18 quid to use the ground anchor in Kensington and Chelsea too, its the seven figure sum for a family house that I have the problem with

London property currently a sore point (we apparently complete on 31st but I'm expecting some spanner in the works )

Can't you drive the S through the restaurant and park it out back... that floor finish looks sturdy enough.

Ade

[tripe]

whilst you and I would no doubt appreciate the design merits of the S to contemplate and admire over dinner I don't believe my business partner would see it as added value to the Racine experience

[BillyBob]

I work just off Cheapside in London and over the last two years can name about 7 motorcycle bays that have disappeared under double yellow lines and some even turned back into metered spaces for cars after luxury flat have been built nearby.
I cant see the councils wanting to allocate more free space to bikes when they can charge £5 an hour for a metered car parking space instead.

[tripe]

it seems that councils are under pressure to reduce road deaths/accidents. By removing the ability to park a motorcycle will mean people won't ride them in to work so reducing casualties. Here in Kensington and Chelsea I believe that this is their plan as they are planning to remove most of the free bays and turn them over to residents only. Nice