Posted on 01/01/2008 4:08:35 AM PST by Stoat
Motorists face a fresh financial onslaught with rules linking the cost of parking outside their homes to the length of their cars.
Owners of many ordinary family cars - including the Ford Focus, Renault Scenic and Vauxhall Vectra - will see the price of annual permits almost double as part of a move to encourage drivers to switch to small hatchbacks.
Campaigners condemned the move as another 'stealth tax' for hard-hit family motorists already struggling to pay high fuel prices, congestion charges and road duties.
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Owners of many ordinary family cars could see the price of annual permits almost double
The Local Government Association said many other town halls were watching the experiment 'with great interest' with a view to copying the scheme.
A number of town halls are already penalising drivers of 'gas-guzzling' larger cars by linking parking costs to vehicle emissions. But the Norwich scheme marks a change by charging according to the car's dimensions, with vehicles divided into three bands.
Any car longer than 14ft 7in will be in the highest category, with the cost of an annual on-street parking permit rising from the current flat-fee of £16 to £30 - a 90 per cent hike.
For the middle band of cars over 12ft 10in, fees will rise steeply to £22, while all smaller cars will enjoy a price freeze.
Campaigners are angry that the bands place many modest- sized family cars in the same category as the biggest gas-guzzling 4x4s, while ignoring the level of harmful pollution each vehicle produces.
For example some models of the popular Ford Focus are classed as 'large', as are the Ford Mondeo, the Renault Espace and Renault Megane, and the Vauxhall Vectra.
Virtually all estate cars will be hit - regardless of emissions - yet older small hatchbacks with inefficient and dirty engines will still benefit from lower charges.
The VW Golf Estate will cost more to park than the Golf hatchback because it is 13 inches longer - even though its engine emissions are 20 per cent lower.
Some models of the Ford Fiesta - which most would consider a small car - just cross the line into the middle-sized category by a fraction of an inch.
Labour-run Norwich City Council has rubber- stamped the move despite fierce opposition.
The RAC Foundation motoring group said: "This discriminates against families with children, who are more likely to drive longer vehicles like estate cars."
The National Taxpayers' Alliance said: "Saving the planet shouldn't be used as an excuse for new stealth taxes. Ordinary motorists deserve a break."
And traffic enforcement firm NCP said: "What if you drive a Toyota Prius, which is quite a big car, but has very low emissions, or a large electric vehicle? Would you have to pay more too?"
If similar policies are adopted by cities with higher parking charges - such as London boroughs, where it typically costs £100 a year to park outside one's own home - motorists could face huge fee increases.
Norwich council defended the rules. Councillor Brian Morrey admitted the move would lead to a rise in revenue but insisted that was 'not the point' of the plan and the money would be ring-fenced for transport improvements.
He said: "It is a deliberate attempt to push people towards owning smaller cars, which generally have lower emissions but also don't cause such problems with parking.
"Wherever we drew the line some cars were going to fall just the wrong side of it, but after lengthy discussions we decided these sizes were a good compromise."
A spokesman said permits would be issued based on car models using a detailed database of dimensions.
LIAR!!! LIAR!!!
And the Prius is in the same top fee tier along with the Rolls Phantom? LMAO!!
Prius
Phantom
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It's this endless nickel-and diming of people that eventually makes a seething population explode....these Socialist bureaucrats who continually push this idiocy may find one day that they have pushed a bit too far....and their heads will end up on pikes on Tower Bridge.
They sure would nail my Towncar.
Another concrete manifestation of the British slide toward socialism.
Of course, once the muslims take over, this will go away, since dhimmi’s won’t have need of automobiles. They’ll all have goats and donkeys.
Sad. Just sad.
Is the term “ring-fenced” the British equivalent of “lock box’?
And the stoatmobile as well. Apparently they want everyone in the tiniest, least comfortable and least-safe car possible so that if you hit a cat with it and total the car, your massive injuries or death will provide an additional tax burden, which will justify their raising taxes again to pay for your needless injuries.
Our British Friends deserve far better than this insanity.......
I would assume so. The context of the phrase suggests that the term denotes an 'untouchable' revenue stream, but we've all seen so very many similar plans that are corrupted and the monies end up going into the 'general fund' or some such hocus-pocus.
One thing that Socialist accountants and bureaucrats do extremely well is economic sleight-of-hand.
Just to add some cultural context to this:
This refers to what is known as ‘on-street’ parking. i.e. you are parking on a public road that is outside your house, not your own land or garage. We are much, much more densley populated than the US, so many city and suburban houses litterally have their front door onto what you would call the ‘sidewalk’. These houses have no parking so people just park in the street.
The residents in this scheme are actually quite lucky. For five of the last six years I lived in a city centre apartment with one carpark bay in the basement but a two car family. There was extensive parking available on the street outside but it was all on meters. They wouldn’t let residents buy permits to park outside their own homes as per this scheme described, as there was more revenue to be had from visitors to the city centre who were willing to pay for the space by the hour. We got a lot of tickets!
‘ring fenced’ in English English (as opposed to the American English that y’all speak) means a protected revenue stream allocated for a specific purpose.
I suspect that one thing that is identical on both sides of the pond is that when a public official utters that revenue is ring fenced he is lying! Peter will be robbed to pay Paul somewhere down the line.
I appreciate your perspective, thanks. I think that the mere fact that in your case you were not even allowed to buy permits for street parking exposes the lie of “it’s about the environment” and other such smokescreens.
It’s all about the money, plain and simple.
An interesting alternative contribution to the debate on the subject of birth control.
Would it then jutify a more friendly immigration policy, preferably towards mu...?
"Seething" population? Insult the local football team and you might see some seething, but other than that, where's the "seething"?
Can't say we're very far behind though.
Sorry, I’m wondering if you would be so kind as to rephrase your question? I’m having difficulty connecting the dots between birth control, fees for on-street car parking and muslim immigration. Perhaps you could elaborate on where you are going with this? Thanks :-)
I should have expressed my thoughts more completely, sorry. I think that a great many who are at the point of 'seething' are leaving Great Britain if they can, and those who can't are held in check by the famous stiff upper lip. Much is written in the press and by bloggers about dissatisfaction pertaining to overtaxation in the UK, but it's true it hasn't gotten to the point of rioting in the streets......yet. In retrospect, probably too strong of a word; my apologies.
Mr. John Q British Citizen is asked to bend over and take a long shaft in the rear from Mr. British Government, and when the long arduous reaming is over, Mr. British Citizen looks over his shoulder at Mr. British Government and says, in a meek and silky voice, “Please, sir. May I have another?”
And Paul will vote for more of it.
Notice all the Brit accents at the hospitals lately? Doctors and nurses fleeing the NHS.
Trouble is, when it happens here, we have no place to run.
Can't say we're very far behind though.
I'll be delighted to assist new British immigrants who settle near the stoat cave with gaining handgun instruction and proficiency :-)
I’m not sure this is as crazy as it sounds...
If they are going to charge for on street parking - which they do in some cities here in the U.S. - it does make a certain sense to consider how much on street parking space a person uses. Now it seems like regulatory overkill but its not completely crazy.
It's there, when one reads the "comments" after news stories in the Daily Mail, the Southampton Daily Echo, etc.
And these are the ones that get published. Imagine how people really feel.
A friendly reminder:
1: Dress up as..ohhhh..Travellers, or something.
2: Board a merchant ship.
3: Dump tea into the harbour.
It works. You need guns, though.
No comment of mine has ever made it past the screeners at the Daily Mail. I've come to the conclusion that the comments are HEAVILY moderated and edited....not only for language, but for philosophical perspective.
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