| Topic: | Re:Re:Re:Ealing residents' parking charges. | |
| Posted by: | Simon Hayes | |
| Date/Time: | 31/10/18 11:33:00 |
| You have to understand how the minds of our elected representatives work when it comes to implementing new schemes. The motive is not to consult and inform the public, it is to hatch a plan within the politburo, set about implementing that plan and then unleash it on the unsuspecting electorate. That is what happened with the changes to the parking permit charges. Mr Bell and his associates know that making people pay more is unpopular with voters - hence his reluctance to increase council tax - so the CPZ changes were made without publicity. There was no mention of it in the Labour Party local election literature in May,just a vague reference at the back of their manifesto with no detail and under the environmental heading. Despite massive public opposition - some 2,800 people signed a petition to scrap the changes - the Council pressed on regardless since they calculate accruing a further £500,000 a year from the new system. As I understand it the proposed changes were published somewhere - probably the almost invisible Ealing Gazette - so their statutory duty has been 'met'. What is worrying about this, and it is a scenario replicated across other sectors in which the Council is seeking to make money, such as giving the Town Hall over to a boutique hotel or the closing of the Central Library, opposition to these schemes is simply not allowed. Proposals go through on the nod at Council meetings without serious debate. There is no scrutiny in the local press and we are simply presented with decisions dressed in the usual propaganda that it's a good deal for Ealing. The Council publishes a magazine, Ealing Today, in which it outlines what's happening - all with a positive spin of course. The latest edition had a two page feature on the CPZ changes, trumpeting how Ealing is 'going green' with its parking schemes. Of course, they could have used an earlier edition to inform voters of the proposed changes but that, of course, goes against the prevailing wisdom of how to run a local authority. While pollution is an issue in London as a whole, penalising CPZ permit holders for owning a car isn't the answer. You have to look at road design, junction layout and the types of vehicles actually contributing most of the pollution. There has been no local study produced to assess the impact of local residents using their cars on pollution levels or how the reduction of emissions, if any, under the new system will be measured. Worryingly, there is a huge drive on the part of the Council to fill the streets with electric vehicle charging points. The first 10 of these are pencilled in for Northfields. It could end up with a situation where there is a huge reduction in parking available for petrol/diesel vehicles and vast swathes of empty bays designated for electric ones. There is also the issue of telling us to trade in polluting vehicles for 'clean' electric ones. Most roads in Ealing are terraced, with a relatively high density of car ownership. Without designated charging bays outside every house, it will be pot luck if you can park close enough to your home to enable you to run a cable out of a window and across the pavement to charge your car. That's not to mention the potential liability should someone trip over your cable or indeed the security issue of leaving a window (or even a door) open for a lengthy charging period. As usual a bandwagon has been jumped on without a single practical thought going into it. But then if you voted Labour in May and you are unhappy with how things are being done, you've only yourself to blame! |