Dear Camden (Scamden)

[Woodstock]

A public letter to Camden Council, as I'm sure you are reading this forum:

Upon hearing rumours that you will be looking into motorcycle parking charges, we were surprised. Surprised, because all the protests, objections and outrage at a similar scheme in your neighbouring borough of Westminster should be enough of a warning that there will be similar action taken elsewhere.

Following some emails and queries from some people here, we were assured it was a misunderstanding on our part, and that you would be looking at pay by phone technology. Any attempt to bring in charging for motorcycle parking, by pay-by-phone or otherwise, will not be tolerated, and you can expect to see similar demonstrations, protests and objections on your doorstep.

I'm sure that you, as observant, intelligent, and concerned councillors have seen the struggle between WCC and the voting, taxpaying public, and know all of our issues with an increase of price for parking our quick, efficient mode of transport, so I shall refrain from listing them here, but we would be happy to discuss them if any issues are unclear.

My colleagues from the NTBPT will probably have their own statements to make...


Fire away boys! (Because girls don't ride bikes, right Burbridge?!  )

[MrC]

Time for those who live in Camden to remind their ward councillors that if they introduce parking fees for bike then they must not make pay by phone the only way to pay or they will be chalengesd in the courts on the grounds of discrimination, just like WCC.

[Woodstock]

Pay by phone or otherwise, I'll be there fighting it.

[Ogri]

Dear Camden Council,
                                 if you're considering moving into the business of charging motorcycles to park you should be made aware that it's not a licence to print money.

 Retailers in your borough will be made aware that motorcycle-riding customers will shop elsewhere (where parking is free).

 Demonstrations will be held that will cripple your traffic flow.

 As a council you will need to hire people to answer the deluge of Freedom of Information requests regarding the new charges.

  Your accounts and procedures will be scrutinised intensely by experienced, committed, highly successful researchers.

 Any councillor in favour of the charges will be campaigned against at re-election time.

 All parking infrastructure will be classed as targets by vandals (of which we disapprove.) Westminster City Council now budgets £200,000 a year for repairs to their motorcycle parking signage.

 

[upyourschalkley]

Dear Camden,

If you stroll in to this decision thinking that it will bring revenue then you will be proven wrong.

Bikers and scooterists have been campaigning against Westminster for over a year and we are getting quite good at it. We won't be put off by two councils doing the same thing, in fact you will alienate even more bikers in Camden who aren't yet aware this will affect them. More people will join us and more people will begin to research Camden's intentions and the processes they use to get there.

If we can stall Wesminster and make them spend millions on everything ranging from expanding departments to cope with our rights for information to road signs we will do it to Camden too. Don't forget the legal challenges Westminster are now facing as a direct result of our attention, our focus will be turned to Camden too.

Motorcyclists and scooterists ride because of the freedom it gives us, our machines are purposeful not a toy. If you charge bikes to park you'll be hitting some of the poorest commuters into your borough. As tube carriages become more crowded and more stressful and roads continue to congest you should welcome motorcycle and scooter riders, not punish them.

[vespa]

Get to know Scamden...

Here is a view of Camden Town Hall...

Camden Town Hall
Judd Street
London WC1H 9JE
Phone: 020-7974 4444
Textphone: 020 7974 6866

Here is a map of the borough:



Easy to surround. It is on Euston Road next to Kings Cross Station.











This is also part of the Town Hall complex.

[upyourschalkley]

Ooh... They are out of the naughty peoples exclusion zone too aren't they, unlike Westminster?

[HarrowRoad]

I have often wondered what blocking Tottenham Court Road at 6pm might do

[Martin]

Tottenham Court Road, and *Euston Road*, and that would really make a mess!!!!!!

[ldn1702]

If Camden Council even think about introducing parking charges for motorbikes and scooters, I'm sure the campaign will make their lives a complete nightmare, as we have been doing on Westminster Council. This campaign has 7,500 supporters, all ready to fight!

Camden Council's affairs, accounts, documents, policies... everything will be scrutinised from top to bottom and anything found wrong in that council will be challenged and reported to the relevant authorities for investigation, in the same way as we have done for Westminster Council.

Not to mention the hundreds of FOI submissions a week that they will be facing, the enormous demonstrations taking place at their doorstep and in their streets.

I'm sure some people will also be defacing their parking signs, costing them a fortune to replace on a regular basis, as for Westminster Council.

Is this something Camden really want to embark on? Good luck to them!

[1frog]

bring it on Scamden !

[DastardlyDick]

Ooh... They are out of the naughty peoples exclusion zone too aren't they, unlike Westminster?

Euston Road is the border of the CC Zone, Judd Street is in the Zone, but St Pancras Station isn't, (you can just see the signs in the pics) but since the CC doesn't apply to bikes.....

[upyourschalkley]

I meant the demo exclusion zone they sometimes use to stop demo's around Westminster Palace. I think City Hall is just outside it but they can extend it in Law if they want to.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/england/london/4734665.stm

[templar]

This is a map of the exclusion zone, courtesy of the Met Police...

http://www.met.police.uk/events/images/Section_132_7_boundary.jpg

So they are miles outside of it, and a Law would take a long time to change for one little protest!

All you'd need to do is avoid blocking the public highway and ensure no-one is being physically threatened, and then legally it is OK.

[Bandit]

See, Camden. Do you see what you have done?

And this is for just THINKING about it....

[templar]

Ooh... They are out of the naughty peoples exclusion zone too aren't they, unlike Westminster?

I should have said that the WCC offices are also outside this zone, but not by a lot. That's probably why the RATS boys got away with it earlier on this week. The line stops a couple of blocks up the street.

The rules for peaceful protest are the same - don't block the public highway (The RATS boys - by the look of the photos - were on the private WCC land, as marked out by the pillars outside the office), and it has to be peaceful and non-threatening (I thought the RATS guys looked positively cuddly. They even had cookies dammit!), and you're OK. For demonstrations (IE there is a route, rather than a static protest) you do need to involve the police, but protests are OK within the above rules IIRC.

[Woodstock]

I should have said that the WCC offices are also outside this zone, but not by a lot. That's probably why the RATS boys got away with it earlier on this week. The line stops a couple of blocks up the street.

The rules for peaceful protest are the same - don't block the public highway (The RATS boys - by the look of the photos - were on the private WCC land, as marked out by the pillars outside the office), and it has to be peaceful and non-threatening (I thought the RATS guys looked positively cuddly. They even had cookies dammit!), and you're OK. For demonstrations (IE there is a route, rather than a static protest) you do need to involve the police, but protests are OK within the above rules IIRC.

In theory, if we assembled near there, say, russell square, and took a detour down euston road on the way to wherever we were going as an unofficial meet, like the one at the ace for the regular demos, we wouldn't even need to inform the police.......

[kaychanc]

In theory, if we assembled near there, say, russell square, and took a detour down euston road on the way to wherever we were going as an unofficial meet, like the one at the ace for the regular demos, we wouldn't even need to inform the police.......

we might cause there is always going to be a few assholes who try to do stupid things when bikers occupy more than what they usually do of the road!!

[UK France bikers.com]

While we're looking for some nice stuff to say about Camden, here is our first post about them ... and no, that doesn't mean that we are leaving Westminster alone!

http://ukfrance.org/2009/12/13/camden-wouldnt-touch-the-bike-parking-tax-with-a-bargepole-would-they/