The Motorcycle Action Group is supporting a petition raised by Mark Fielder asking Hounslow Council to stop plans for motorcycle parking charges. Proposed Hounslow motorcycle parking charges are once again missing the point.
Hounslow council have proposed (in a poorly advertised parking strategy consultation) to introduce motorcycle parking charges. The consultation has closed but MAG member Mark Fielder raised a petition in the hope that the Council will be prepared to reconsider these poorly advertised plans.
Proposals will see motorcyclists charged based on CO2 emissions and, like other Councils, Hounslow plans to use DVLA data to determine motorcycle emissions. MAG has previously demonstrated the flaws in this use of DVLA data that is held for less than 10% of registered motorcycles. As Mark Fielder points out in the petition, not all trips can be replaced by walking, cycling or public transport. For trips that can’t be replaced in this way, motorcycles and scooters are the best alternative to cars. Instead of seeking to unfairly punish riders, Hounslow should recognise the value of incentivising motorcycles and scooters over car use, to meet their air quality, climate change and kerbside strategy goals.
MAG’s Director of Campaigns & Political Engagement, Colin Brown, said:
“This is another example of ill-considered policymaking for motorcycles. Communications with the Council have shown some recognition that motorcycles pollute less than cars and require less space for parking, yet still they apply a disproportionate charge based -apparently – on a need for revenue rather than evidence. MAG called for the new Government to introduce clear guidance on appropriate approaches to motorcycle parking charges in our Move on Motorcycling manifesto. Last week I wrote to the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government asking for a dialogue on this subject. We should not need to fight battles at local level to defend the common-sense logic of free motorcycle parking. We need national parking policy guidelines that recognise the value that motorcycles deliver for solving all the priorities claimed by local authorities. We need to see an end to local authorities coveting emissions-based motorcycle parking charges as a convenient route to new revenue sources.”
MAG is asking motorcyclists to sign the petition to help us open a meaningful dialogue with Hounslow’s decision-makers. Meanwhile, MAG will continue to press the Government to formulate sensible guidance that will shut down this unnecessary and growing attack on motorcyclists’ pockets.
Sign the petition here: https://you.38degrees.org.uk/petitions/stop-plans-for-motorcycle-and-scooter-parking-charges-in-hounslow
MAG’s Move on Motorcycling manifesto asks on parking can be found here: https://mag-uk.org/park-it/
MAG’s YouTube interview with petition author Mark Fielder: