Campaign Gears Up For Day In Court With Westminster

June 21, 2010 - PRLog -- The No To Bike Parking Tax Campaign is preparing to meet Westminster City Council in a showdown in the High Court over the Council's continued imposition of a parking 'tax' on motorbikes and scooters in the borough.

The Campaign held a rally this weekend at which over 1700 bikes completed a full circuit of the M25 before gathering near Oxford Circus on Saturday evening - many of those who attended the weekend rally are expected to gather outside the High Court on the Strand to try and sit in on proceedings.

Warren Djanogly, of the NTBPT Campaign, said:

"Finally the day has arrived when Westminster Council has to answer for all their selfish actions, phoney justifications, ridiculous figures, and the fact that they ignored and abused the consultation process which was supposed to avoid exactly this kind of costly court action. Bikers have donated in their thousands to fund this case and come together in a way not seen for years - the biking community can be proud of the way it has stood against a bureaucracy determined to do nothing more than use bikers as an additional revenue stream."

The Campaign has held demonstrations over the past 18 months in the capital, with over 3000 attending in March 2009, thousands of petitions submitted in another rally in July,  a mass signing of a mock legal document in August, and weekly demonstrations since the beginning of the year in which bikes have refused to filter, showing the congestion that would occur if each biker was in a car.

The Campaign's legal team has expressed confidence that the verdict will overturn the much derided charges, which - according to Westminster's figures - show that the scheme is losing rate-payers £430,000 a year, despite turning a huge profit the previous year.

Westminster has also come under fire after telling journalists that vandalism of parking signs had cost £150,000 over 18 months, despite submitting court documents in which that figure had been inflated to £220,000/yr. The Campaign also responded strongly to the timing of the press release. Charlie Lort-Phillips, a spokesman for the campaign, said:

"It does seem odd that Westminster have chosen this precise time to highlight vandalism that months ago we publicly stated was not led by or condoned by this campaign. The fact that they have also let slip that they are presenting inaccurate figures to the High Court simply goes to show how desperate this council is to maintain what it claims is a loss making scheme, which in and of itself is frankly absurd."

The case will be heard on Thursday 24th June and could continue into Friday.

For further information on the campaign, quotes or photos, please contact Warren Djanogly, campaign chair, at:
chairman@notobikeparkingfees.com
Mobile: 07802 882 681 or Charlie Lort-Phillips on 07813 138 517/charlielp@mac.com


NOTES TO EDITORS:

1)   The No To Bike Parking Fees protest group is the leading voice challenging the charges, and has enlisted the support of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, the Drivers’ Alliance, The British Motorcycle Federation, the Motorcycle Action Group, the AA, and thousands of bikers across the UK. Further information about the campaign can be found at www.notobikeparkingfees.com.
2)   Westminster City Council’s scheme involves a parking charge of £1 a day or £100/yr for every motorbike or scooter.
3)   In the Conservative Party’s key document on economic policy, “Reconstruction: Plan for a Strong Economy”, published at the Conservative Party Conference in September 2008 and signed by David Cameron and George Osborne, the first pledge in the Conservative agenda for Tax Reform is “an end to stealth taxes.” This document can be read here: http://www.conservatives.com/~/media/Files/Downloadable%2...

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The No To Bike Parking Fees protest group is the leading voice challenging the introduction of revenue raising parking charges in Westminster, with the support of the Taxpayers' Alliance and others. Further information is at www.notobikeparkingfees.com