Slipping one in during the festive season of goodwill? ...Heroes or villains?

It is not my style to 'name & shame' but I feel compelled to say that the time draws nigh when two would-be pioneers of a new motorbike & scooter parking tax in Britain will be seen as heroes or villains, and by whom...

You may well wonder who this fellow on the right is and what he might have to offer us in our ongoing quest for reasons to be cheerful – and especially now the season of goodwill to all etc. is upon us, while the future of life on earth hangs in the balance for some. Well, all as I see it about this bloke will be revealed shortly. And, depending on what his boss, Cllr Danny Chalkley (DC) on the left decides, life will eventually either get better or worse for us all in UK towns and cities and especially so for riders of motorbikes or scooters. Amongst other things, the bloke on the right is a very senior officer at Westminster City Council who was asked to re-write his second officer's report recommending that the council makes its 'experimental' M/C parking charges scheme permanent. For an alternative view of this scheme go to No To Bike Parking Tax

The re-write is finally done and submitted to DC so he, as cabinet member for transport at WCC can decide whether to go ahead with the new UK biking tax or scrap it. DC emailed me this week to say that he will "make that decision within the next week". But please bear with me and join in on a Yuletide ramble to get to the bottom of who is really doing what and why, and whether these two characters will be heroes or villains and will their next move be for the greater good, or all about the money...

All sorts of stuff, and a fair amount of nonsense goes on in the festive season. It is of course also the time when we are all supposed to be especially jolly and nice to each other etc. There are however a number of Bah Humbuggers who say that's all tosh.

The most fervent humbuggers are deeply sceptical about the merits of mass immersion into temporary enthusiasm for extra jollity. Just SAY NO they shout to falsely bearded Santas and smiling, some even say no to drinking yerself sillier than usual. A few humbuggers go as far as seeing a dark side. It's not about the peace-and-love-man spirit of Christmas they say grimly. It's all about the money honey, and warn that there are sharks out there who just want to screw you for as much as they can and in whatever ways they can get away with. Darker still, while everybody and their mate and their dog are wobbling around with feelings of goodwill to all and sundry, or just legless, it can be a jolly good time for ne'er do wells to do their dastardly worst. This even includes cunning or desperate government bods who need to try and slip a bit of bad news into the world while our ears and eyes are elsewhere.

Now, this is where our chap on the right may or may not come in. He is Alistair Gilchrist, Director of Parking at Westminster City Council & M.D. of Westco Trading Ltd. And, IMHO, dear Alistair is the real driving force behind what I regard as a nasty new high-tech tax on motorbike parking – first in London – and in a town near you next. But as I know from past experience, when it comes to motorbike parking charge schemes, Alistair has a bit of history for trying to slip things in, or occasionally letting things slip out, while he hopes that no-one important is paying much attention.

I vividly remember the first time AG tried to introduce a scheme to make riders pay to park their congestion busting motorbikes and scooters in the centre of London on Westminster's patch. He and WCC ignored objections but soon found out that coin operated parking meters issuing pay and display tickets wouldn’t work and nor did the other variants he tried. So, poor Alistair and his wannabe bike parking charging chums ended up with big egg on face – but that was just the first time around.

Now, pay-by-mobile-phone technology has come to his rescue. And, as he let slip at the last meeting of the Cross Party Parliamentary Motorcycling Group. "We've always wanted to get bikes to pay for parking but didn't have the technology till now". In parallel to this, Danny Chalkley has convinced me that he really doesn't want the new bike parking fees to deter riders from using bikes in Westminster, although the only official reason left standing for the scheme is good old 'demand management' which is all about deterring folk from using particular modes. But, like Alistair, Danny is a director of Westco, and indeed its Chairman, and Westco just happens to be in the business of supplying parking 'services'.

But why would anybody want to set up a business within a council? Well, the answer is the same as it is for any business, it is to make money. And as we all know money makes the world go round and charging to park on public roads is a great way to make loads of money if you have the local authority powers to do so. So, the big question now for Alistair and Danny during the season to be merry is this. Are you going to be heroes and bin this attempt to screw more money out of riders who are doing there bit to cut congestion and save the planet by reducing pollution? Or, are you going to stick with the plan to get a bit more cash, put people off riding bikes and scooters and consolidate you appearance to many as the Scrooges or villains of the peace? I sincerely hope you will be heroes...