Parking Permits & CO2 Levels... But It's a Pre-2001 Car!

[chaseracer]

What the ever-loving fuck do emissions have to do with parking permits? Doesnt matter if its a Leaf

or a V8 Rangie on worn out carbs....if its parked, its parked. If they really want to introduce some kind of tiered payment scheme, surely it should be based on vehicle length? you know....something thats actualy relevant to the parking situation in the borough?

 

Pillock mentioned above that whoever at the council thought this up would have got a pat on the back, a bonus and a days holiday. I think a more likely scenario is that tens of thousands of pounds were pissed away on "research" meetings, new decor for the board room to have those meetings in, implementation strategies, some IT consultants will have billed them 5 times my years salary for a feasability study on how to set up the scheme and some cunt will have earned a bonus large enough to pay for his third home in the countryside. Where coincidentaly he doesnt have to deal with a fuckwitted parking charge scheme.

 

Nail.  Head.  Hit.

 

Merci, Dave - tu as raison.

 

[Junkman]

The real problem is that the people in that borough will not storm the council and kick these CO2 patronising shits' teeth in and redo the newly decorated board room with a few sledge hammers. They will nicely sit at home typing the online direct debit info for their resident parking charge bill into their new shiny shit tabloids from China.

 

That's the real problem and nowt else.

[HH-R]

Having to pay to park outside of your own house is a massive piss take at best anyway.

[purplebargeken]

Welcome to London.

[Andrew353w]

_{Clealy the more astute amongst you have realised that I do live in that well-known London borough that is used in Cockney Rhyming slang for "hair"....}

 

_{The restriction on parking outside one's house can be a good thing, as we live about 5 minutes from our local tube station & were this restricion not in place we'd have commuters blocking every corner of the area. But you are ALL also right in that it's a PARKING charge, not a driving charge, and my car STILL doesn't have a CO2 reading!}

 

_{Oddly, I've owned 2 British Mini Coopers over the past few years; one a 1994 "M" reg & one a 2000 "W" reg. Both have a 1275 cc engine, both have a catalytic converter, and (guess what?) both are green! The "M" reg one would cost £60 per year to park outside our home and the "W" reg one £40, based on a CO2 figure of 162g/Km. (Although where this number came from is a mystery, since the D.V.L.A. have no CO2 figure for this car....)}

 

_{If I lived in Barking & Dagenham and owned the same two cars, the "M" reg one would cost £25.70 and the "W" reg one £36.00. A complete reversal of the pricing policy in my own borough...}

 

_{Logical? I think not......  This is madness!!} I'll keep you informed.....

 

[Junkman]

_{The restriction on parking outside one's house can be a good thing, as we live about 5 minutes from our local tube station & were this restricion not in place we'd have commuters blocking every corner of the area.}

 

 

Theoretically, those permits could be issued to the residents for free. I said, theoretically.

Because practically, the residents pay council tax.

 

Also, the space in front of houses is public, i.e. the State owns it. And the State is you and myself.

I have an issue with having to pay rent for my own property.

In fact, I consider charging me for using my property a criminal act. It's called protection racket.

[Taff]

OP, if you have the time & the patience, I would get the local MP involved. If the local system is so at odds with both logic & neighbouring council systems, it can't be right.

 

Dig in and get it changed. Or burn down the local council offices, that might work

[Mr_Bo11ox]

 

I have an issue with having to pay rent for my own property.

In fact, I consider charging me for using my property a criminal act. It's called protection racket.

 

Its my property too and i want a return on it, so get your wallet out

[Taff]

Theoretically, those permits could be issued to the residents for free. I said, theoretically.

Because practically, the residents pay council tax.

 

Also, the space in front of houses is public, i.e. the State owns it. And the State is you and myself.

I have an issue with having to pay rent for my own property.

In fact, I consider charging me for using my property a criminal act. It's called protection racket.

 

 

Its my property too and i want a return on it, so get your wallet out

 

Actually, isn't JM one of those economic migrants you hear so much about these days? If that's the case, provided he starts work in a Number One Hand Carwash sometime soon, he's entitled to park for free.

[steved40]

How about trying the argument that since their regulations don't cater for pre-2001 cars, yours must be exempt so you claim your free parking pass?  Similar rules apply to the MOT - if your car isn't fitted with something that became mandatory for MOT purposes after it was manufactured, then generally that part of the MOT test won't apply....

[Bamboocarman]

Welcome to London.

 

. . . and Brighton (!)

[HH-R]

North Tyneside and Northumberland County Councils like them too, though they're somewhat cheaper than Laaaaaaahndon's (FOC/£15)

[Angrydicky]

I think you'll find all cities and most towns do them, although outside London most only cover the city centre or areas near hospitals/stations/seafront.

 

As for the council telling you they would take the car's emissions readings from the MoT (which, as mentioned, isn't listed in g/km), what about if it was a pre 1975 car that not only has no factory emissions data, but is exempt from MoT emission testing?

[chaseracer]

OP, if you have the time & the patience, I would get the local MP involved...

 

Good luck with that.  One of them's the Northern Ireland Secretary.

[Taff]

OP, want to borrow this? MoT exempt, so no emisions to measure

 

 

It's insured and road legal, so if you want to ask them what it will cost you to park outside your gaff, feel free. 208" long, if they ask.

[HH-R]

I'm surprised they haven't asked you to just buy a post 2001 car to make life easier for them.

[Andrew353w]

Good luck with that.  One of them's the Northern Ireland Secretary.

 

Yes, mine is!

 

Having made a formal complaint to the council I'm going to wait for their response first. According to the rules they've 10 working days to respond, which gives them until the end of next week to get back to me. After that I'm permitted to approach the Local Government Ombudsman. I am grateful for all the suggestions from all the Autoshite community regarding this. 

[Andrew353w]

Dear Autoshiters, I realise this thread's been languishing many pages away for about 3 months, but I've at last something to report:

 

The Local Government Ombudsman has investigated my complaint against my local council and I'm pleased to say that he agrees that I have been treated unjustly! However (and here's the rub...) they are not able to pursue the matter since the amount I have claimed to have lost as a result of this injustice is £30, which is considerably less than the cost would be to pursue it! 

 

O.K., that's the bad news... The good news is that he is writing a letter to the council "suggesting" they re-design their website to take account of cars first registered before 2001 and draw up a set of charges applicable to them. The word "suggesting" in this sentence has much more significance than it would at first appear (as in: 'I "suggest" you step out of the car and blow in this breathalyser, sir.") 

 

I appreciate that this may seem a small (perhaps even a pyrrhic) victory, but I am so pleased to have managed to progress things this far that I am now planning to be issued with a parking fixed penalty notice and to then appeal against the notice in an effort to further this battle, if the Ombudsman's letter does not have the desired effect. £60 would be well worth it to raise the matter further, but frankly I get the impression that any council that ignore an Ombudsman's letter do so at their peril...... 

 

As soon as I know more I'll add it to this thread-Sorry I've been a bit absent recently!

[dollywobbler]

Well done. Local councils really are absolutely bloody hopeless. Ours has managed to arrange just one rubbish collection in four weeks. Sadly, the endless rounds of cuts seem to lead to any decent staff taking the opportunity to depart, leaving a wake of absolute carnage behind them. They issued 'revised Easter collection' details, but failed to honour it! It seems the drivers all new that it wouldn't happen, so why didn't the managers?

[320touring]

knew;)

 

are you supposed to be on a 4 weekly collection? or did they miss a fortnightly one?

[dollywobbler]

knew;)

 

are you supposed to be on a 4 weekly collection? or did they miss a fortnightly one?

 

Weekly for recycling, fortnightly for main rubbish. 

[320touring]

Often its problems re getting drivers and loaders to cover-reliance on agency staff can be problematic at best..

 

anyways, back on topic-sounds like a right result OP:)

[scaryoldcortina]

Wait, so they come round twice as often for the stuff that doesn't rot, smell or attract flies?

[Guest Hooli]

Good work. It's about time councils remembered they are here to serve us!