Friday 21 January 2011

Against the parking fee rises - sign the petition

I'm not a motorist but I can see what Barnet council are up to with their proposals to raise parking fees: plug the gap in their finances which results from a combination of the overall cuts to public services and their own incompetence. It's not on! The Barnet Press has an interview with an angry resident, Shaun Fabian, who lives in a Controlled Parking Zone. He will be charged £100 in future instead of £40, just for parking in front of his own home:
"All the bays are already paid for, there's no maintenance and the administration doesn't cost any more so I don't think the council could justify even a one pence rise. The money is obviously going to go towards something else.

"We already pay our council tax for services, so this is like an additional tax."
The Press outlines some of the other increased charges (they like to call it "optimising revenue income"), including a trebling of allotment fees and charging businesses more for trade refuse sacks.

Most upsetting, they also plan to charge users of social services for more services (they call this "fairer charging"). (This is not in the Press article, but as an issue deserves a whole campaign in its own right.)

The other scandalous element in all this is that councillors get a park-anywhere-you-like-for-free permit.

The Barnet Bugle blogger has started a petition, "We are not cash cows", on Barnet council's official petition site: spread the word. People should sign it for the name alone!

6 comments:

David Duff said...

"...plug the gap in their finances which results from a combination of the overall cuts to public services..."

Not quite sure I follow that one. I mean, cuts to your budget, experience tends to show, actually does close a gap in one's finances. But then I'm not a socialist and I do know that socialists seem to believe the opposite, that is, if in deficit keep on spending.

Mind you, this novel approach to finance is not confined to socialists, my wife works on much the same principle!

Citizen Barnet said...

I meant the cut in the money central government gives to local government. There are cuts to all sorts of grants as well for different projects. SureStart grants will be cut, for example, and the council will pass on the cut.

Moaneybat said...

Duff

"cuts to your budget, experience tends to show, actually does close a gap in one's finances." No! seriously, is it that logically obvious?

It's obvious what the lady meant though you missed it despite, picking it out, "results from a combination of the overall cuts to public services..."

Socialists! Since 1979 I've been trying to find any Socialist Government in the UK? Maybe they moved Britain to Socialist China, know what I mean, pal. Well let's hope the Pickled approach of the Localism Bill does not hand to much power to the local 'community' lest we all become Communists and lose more of the money that we did not have and some, the local Conservatives paid themselves, that your friends are cutting from the centre.

It is a Conservative's (one who thinks like you) petition.

Mrs Angry said...

Hmm. Perhaps the shopoholic Mrs Duff should be encouraged to buy her husband some new longjohns: what do you think, Vicki? Ones with a less generous gusset?

David Duff said...

Have a care, Madam, you are talking of the long Johns I love and cherish, In fact, in this weather the 'Memsahib' has considerable difficulty getting them off me!

Oh, sudden thought, perhaps its my body she's after. Dread thought!

Moaneybat said...

Memsahib must dread the thought knowing that behind the longjohns is a wrinkled dry gristle being used as a brain