Executive Sadman Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I found this out of interesthttp://www.thisissouthdevon.co.uk/news/Met...il/article.html Meters bring in £15,000 a week The council is on target to make £590,000 profit in the on-street parking scheme's first year — £240,000 more than first predicted. Lovely revenue, lovely jubbly Is Torbay council conservative run? They usually seem the worst offenders when it comes to ripping off motorists. Oddly in my area the Libdems are the only ones to consistently be pro small business and anti parking charges. As usual tories in local govt are an absolute disgrace, probably getting backhanders from Tesco. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SqueezePlay Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Where I live there used to be a three or four places where you could park for free for up to two hours and wonder into town to do a bit of shopping. It was a five minute walk so a lot of lazy people didn't bother and would pay a couple of pounds to save their fat @rses any effort.Recent all those places have now been changed to either ticketed parking or 1/2 hour only (not long enough to do anything in town). It's now impossible to park any closer town than where I live, so now I walk all the way. It's become a disease where a bunch of jumped up little hitlers incapable of doing a proper job are set on extorting evermore money from the public. Even my local leisure centre (council owned) has introduced ticketed parking - so now I go elsewhere. Nothing good about it - just lazy useless people stealing from everybody else. I visited a friend in Southampton City Centre today - Sunday 13:00. Dropped the wife and kids off before heading to the car park I normally use - it was deserted apart from a few 09, 08, 57 plate cars. When I went to the pay meter I saw why - £4.20 for four hours. I drove off and headed to find a cheaper spot, lots of empty parking bays but all pay and display, £1 per hour at least - most with restrictions (1 hr max, 2 hr max -no return etc) even on a Sunday. Eventually I found a place I could park for free, a short distance from the centre. The out-of-centre supermarkets might be strangling the city centres but the city councils parking fees will do the rest. I wondered if theparking cost were connected with this end of the city being deserted on a sunny sunday afternoon. Its a recession boys! Most people will refuse to pay a fiver for the privilege of leaving a lump of metal on a piece of asphalt for a few hours when they could go out of town and use the money to buy an extra bottle of cheap wine. (except the guys whose new cars tell you - their lifestyle dosen't care about the money). And I would happily pay a couple of quid for the comfort of a short walk and the vain hope that the CCTV might deter thieves - so the councils greed will cost it dear - and the fools will seek to increase revenue by larger fines or other penalising taxes rather than firing a few useless employees and capping the pensions of other. Squeeze Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 It is getting worse...the delivery guys that are undertaking their daily job delivering to local businesses are now getting hit...only last week I personally saw the bakers delivery van get a ticket whilst delivering the bread...this is no joke, it is daylight robbery. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 when I first started to drive you could drive and park where you wanted when you wanted How long ago was that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LumpHammer Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 This 'ambush' parking enforcement is nasty, all about revenue, implemented by commissioned petty officials. Evening and weekends are no longer excluded, even where traffic 'congestion' is not a problem.There was a time when going to town and parking wasn't an issue, and guess what, towns thrived. Now we worry or expect to be ripped off - 'mistakes' are costly. It is very short-sighted, yet they carry on pissing people off. And fail to think through the consequences of these policies. It does seem to mirror the cultural contempt that officialdom has. Politicians lie; more and more inventive ways are thought up to take money off people. Ordinary people are 'criminalised'. The proposed on-the-spot fines by the police are a concern. A one man judge and jury. Justice it isn't. Yet I don't hear a lot of complaints. I mean, what is going on with the opposition? Not a whisper. +1 Traffic wardens and speed cameras are just another weapon in the tax war against the general public. Nothing will be done until there is widespread opposition and sadly as the middle classes are the main victims - this is unlikely. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
winkie Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 How long ago was that? Ask me my age why don't you.....no there were no parking meters and all the car parks were free 20 years ago, it has been going downhill ever since, every day you now notice a spot you used to park for free is now resident parking or a parking meter or double yellow line.... look cars are being pushed out, like it or not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I know this subject well, & I would guess it isn't allowed. The only problem putting a ticket on it is the wardens aren't allowed on private property ie his drive. They can put a ticket on the protruding part of the vehicle sure, but they need to be able to read and input the tax details to issue a ticket lawfully. If the car is parked front end out to the street, then a warden could read the tax disc from the street and issue. Oh interesting ... it's a really strange bit of the road as it has a path along behind some grass and then the proper pavement as well (all council maintained) and their drive crosses both paths... so he's really blocking two paths at once ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Ask me my age why don't you..... Sorry, I wasn't trying to be intrusive. no there were no parking meters and all the car parks were free 20 years ago, it has been going downhill ever since, every day you now notice a spot you used to park for free is now resident parking or a parking meter or double yellow line.... look cars are being pushed out, like it or not. Yeah, but I think they're being pushed out by other cars. Car ownership's risen vastly and people are using them a lot more (how many children were driven to school every day 20 or 30 years ago?). It'd be interesting to scrap all the parking restrictions and speed limits for a few weeks and see how people liked the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
abaxas Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Just do what I do. I park in double yellow lines, get a ticket. Then you write back telling them you are being discriminated against as you are able bodied. So far 3x tickets. 0 requirement to pay. No council in their right mind would fight something which would bankrupt them in seconds. Play them at their own ´social inclusion´ game. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hev Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Is Torbay council conservative run? They usually seem the worst offenders when it comes to ripping off motorists. Oddly in my area the Libdems are the only ones to consistently be pro small business and anti parking charges.As usual tories in local govt are an absolute disgrace, probably getting backhanders from Tesco. No it is Lib dem but the mayor of Torbay has his ' vision' which involves hording up the front, moving war memorials and generally p e e ing off most residents and visitors. The man is a numpty. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Laughing Gnome Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 And some monkey up the road has a "drive" that is so small his car overhangs the pavement if he parks on it, the only car that wouldn't it one of those tiny tiny ones. I don't know why that's allowed. I suppose you would be happier if he just parked on the road. Thought not. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wario Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 Sorry, I wasn't trying to be intrusive. God, Lennon and his wee pal must have been utterly miraculous when they spewed this one out then. Remember, kids, don't do drugs. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted August 23, 2009 Share Posted August 23, 2009 I suppose you would be happier if he just parked on the road. Thought not. He's got room to park 2 cars on his rear garden drive. accessed via a secure paid for gated area that's lit by council tax payers. Why should he use that though when he can get in the way of the pram brigade, the elderly and anyone else foolish enought to risk being a pedestrian. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I believe I made a prediction on this board months ago, that the Govt would use motorists as a major source of revenue in these lean times. Expect traffic wardens to be twice as efficient, and speed cameras to spring up on every corner. If you're a motorist, seriously, watch your back Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scunnered Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 God, Lennon and his wee pal must have been utterly miraculous when they spewed this one out then. Remember, kids, don't do drugs. My God! He's back!!! I thought you'd gone for good. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MongerOfDoom Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 I believe I made a prediction on this board months ago, that the Govt would use motorists as a major source of revenue in these lean times. Expect traffic wardens to be twice as efficient, and speed cameras to spring up on every corner. If you're a motorist, seriously, watch your back Unlikely to happen. You can only lose three points a year (or is it four?). Any more than that, you lose your license soonish. Even if they fine you £200 per offense, that is still absolutely trivial compared to other taxes, and will be entirely wiped out if even a small percentage of the population cannot drive to work. Similarly, few people will spend even £1000 on parking fines in a year before modifying their behavior, and it probably costs over half that to collect. Fines are excellent business for people who collect them, but will never work as a way of funding the state, at least one the current size. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
1929crash Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 There's been a sudden morphic-resonant rash of parking on the pavement on my street and it really hacks me off. A few years ago, the carriageway was widened, and about 18 inches of pavement was removed, leaving pedestrians barely enough room to squeeze past a wheely-bin on recycling day. If you're pushing a baby-buggy you can completely forget it. Now, what little space has been left for pedestrians has been annexed by the softroaders.The other day, I congratulated a traffic warden who was booking a car which had parked with 2 wheels on the pavement and encouraged him to "book 'em all!" My appreciation of his work clearly made his day. And the beaming smile I got from him in return made mine. Book 'em all!' It's not always as simple as that. I live in a narrow street with terraced houses and if buses are to pass, parking on the pavement is a necessity. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Darkman Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Unlikely to happen. You can only lose three points a year (or is it four?). Any more than that, you lose your license soonish.Plans are already in motion to reduce the number of points for minor offences. You may have noticed it in the news recently? The fine won't be reduced though Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
pete.hpc Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 It'd be interesting to scrap all the parking restrictions and speed limits for a few weeks and see how people liked the results. Yes, god forbid people would be left to the anarchy of their own morality Let's have a moments thanks to the dear leader for saving us from ourselves. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dinker Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Aren`t they called Civil Enforcement Officers now? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nationalist Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Bill of Rights 1689 ....That all grants and promises of fines and forfeitures of particular persons before conviction are illegal and void; All fines levied without a conviction in court are illegal. The Bill of Rights is part of the Act of Settlement and is a condition under which the sovereign holds power. The queen cannot legally give assent to any Act which contradicts the Bill of Rights so all subsequent Acts which allow decriminalised fines do not apply. I had a long exchange of letters with my local council about a parking fine and the "Metric Martyrs" case which upheld the supremancy of the Bill of Rights and the best they could come up with, eventually, was: it's not a fine, it's a penalty charge. (I paid and then demanded my money back when I found out about the MM case.) So I suggest anyone with a parking fine quote the Bill of Rights and demand a court case - no council would dare take you to court for fear of losing and having to repay every fine they've ever issued. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The McGlashan Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 It's not always as simple as that. I live in a narrow street with terraced houses and if buses are to pass, parking on the pavement is a necessity. Clearly, then, this street is either unsuitable as a bus-route, or it will be necessary to ban parking completely on one side of the carriageway. It is an offense for a car to mount the pavement - when was the last time you read the highway code? (Clue - Rules 145 and 244). Were you to perform such a maneuver when sitting your driving test, you'd fail. Motorists' use of any and all urban space is subsidised by non-motorists payment of council tax, and now you feel that (in your words) "parking on the pavement is a necessity"? Well, it is not, it's just an indication that the lazy motorist can't be bothered to find and/or walk to and from a suitably safe and legal parking space. It is offensive to me to have what little of my urban space is left to me as a pedestrian unilaterally annexed by a group which I already subsidise against my will. Moreover, parking on the pavement can obstruct and seriously inconvenience people in wheelchairs or with visual impairments and people with prams or pushchairs. The breathtaking selfishness of motorists never fails to amaze me. I'm really hacked off their erroneous sense of entitlement. Motoring is not a universal right - rather, it is a privilege granted by license - a license which can be endorsed or revoked. If it were up to me, I would endorse licenses for inconsiderate and dangerous parking practices like the ones you incorrectly say are a "necessity". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Live Peasant Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 The future of urban friendly motoring, one for DYIV. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest absolutezero Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 Bill of Rights 1689All fines levied without a conviction in court are illegal. The Bill of Rights is part of the Act of Settlement and is a condition under which the sovereign holds power. The queen cannot legally give assent to any Act which contradicts the Bill of Rights so all subsequent Acts which allow decriminalised fines do not apply. I had a long exchange of letters with my local council about a parking fine and the "Metric Martyrs" case which upheld the supremancy of the Bill of Rights and the best they could come up with, eventually, was: it's not a fine, it's a penalty charge. (I paid and then demanded my money back when I found out about the MM case.) So I suggest anyone with a parking fine quote the Bill of Rights and demand a court case - no council would dare take you to court for fear of losing and having to repay every fine they've ever issued. Did you get your money back? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
General Melchett Posted August 24, 2009 Share Posted August 24, 2009 There's been a sudden morphic-resonant rash of parking on the pavement on my street and it really hacks me off. A few years ago, the carriageway was widened, and about 18 inches of pavement was removed, leaving pedestrians barely enough room to squeeze past a wheely-bin on recycling day. If you're pushing a baby-buggy you can completely forget it. Now, what little space has been left for pedestrians has been annexed by the softroaders.The other day, I congratulated a traffic warden who was booking a car which had parked with 2 wheels on the pavement and encouraged him to "book 'em all!" My appreciation of his work clearly made his day. And the beaming smile I got from him in return made mine. Book 'em all!' +1..... The street I live on was, for a couple of years, one of the closest to the town center without parking restrictions. While this was the case, we had to put up with a daily diet of every fecker double parking their lump of rusty metal for the day. Apart from the aesthetics and the blocking/ruination of the footpaths, it often made it impossible to actually drive up the street for hours at a stretch. Although when some of us asked the emergency services what they would do if they had to get up the street, they did assure us (with a wry smile) that the firebragade would have no problem moving these vehicles if necessary..... And it was fecking dangerous, too. The street is a hill, and I have two photos of the consequences of runaway parked cars, one of which wrote off my wifes car, parked on our drive. If anyone had been in the way of these runaways, they would have been killed. So, after the residents badgering the council for a couple of years, they gave us yellow lines, and random traffic warden visits. And I, for one, am very grateful. Ticket them all! Selfish feckers. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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