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Legal challenge over motorbike charge
A legal challenge to a motorbike parking charge introduced by Westminster Council has been lodged at the High Court.
Warren Djanogly, chairman of No to Bike Parking Tax campaign group, handed in an application for the challenge over the controversial fees imposed on bikers to park in on-street bays.
The row centres over a £1 daily parking charge, initially introduced by Westminster Council as a trial in September 2008 but which was made permanent in January despite more than 3,000 objections.
Campaigners say the fee should be dropped as they say the scheme was introduced purely to raise revenue - which would be illegal if true, and that the council acted 'ultra vires' or beyond its powers, because the charges have "no traffic management benefit".
Mr Djanogly, a management consultant who works in Margaret Street, West End, said: "The message is simple - get the council to scrap this tax and we will go away.
"The charge was introduced purely to line the pockets of the council.
"There's no justification for it, leave the bikes alone."
However, Westminster Council has called the challenge "unfounded".
Campaigners have raised thousands of pounds to start the legal process, but Mr Djanogly said they needed around £25,000 to £30,000 more to follow the case through.
No to Bike Parking Tax has held a series of protest since the charge was first announced, including the latest one last night (9) in Northumberland Avenue, Westminster.
The group has vowed to keep campaigning until the charge is completely dropped.
The High Court will now examine the application and decide whether to list the case, a process which could take some months.
Leith Penny, Westminster Council's strategic director of city management, said: "We're aware of this challenge which is part of an ongoing campaign by a motorbike protest group who are unhappy over parking charges in Westminster.
"As Westminster is one of the most congested boroughs in London we have a challenging job of balancing the needs of everyone who comes into the city and our policy on motorcycle parking reflects this.
"We remain confident that the court will dismiss what we feel is an unfounded challenge."
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Quote:"As Westminster is one of the most congested boroughs in London we have a challenging job of balancing the needs of everyone who comes into the city and our policy on motorcycle parking reflects this."
I fail to see what congestion has to do with charging motorcycles to park - motorcycles do not cause congestion, they are part of the solution not the problem.
The only reason Westminster find this challenging is because the people in charge are too stupid to understand this.
Unbelievable that Westminster are peddling the line about congestion. Surely anyone with even half a functioning braincell knows that bikes take up less space, move through traffic and generally cause less congestion than any other vehicle except a cycle? Apparently everyone except the Einsteins in charge of WCC.
If there is any independent evidence to substantiate Mr Leith's assertion that charging motorcyclists £1 a day to park in Westminster has made the slightest difference to the "challenging job of balancing the needs of everyone who comes into the city" please would he publish it online.
Otherwise, at best, it is an inefficient, loss-making irrelevance and at worst embezzlement.