The decision of the London Borough of Hackney to levy crippling parking charges on motorcycles continues to cause concern amongst local riders and riders’ rights groups. The National Motorcyclists Council (NMC), along with the Save London Motorcycling (SLM) campaign, the London branch of the Motorcycle Action Group (MAG) and the National Motorcycle Dealers Association (NMDA), are all supporting a call for a review of the evidence used to impose the charges.
The decision to charge bikes at the same rate as cars was taken in February 2021, but implementation has been delayed for the moment. The charges are draconian: £6 per hour in parking bays, with a four-hour time limit, and £850 a year for a resident permit. They will, according to campaigners, have a horrendous impact on riders in Hackney.
But that actually seems to be the plan. According to the campaigners, Hackney Council wants to actively discourage motorcycles from its roads, based on a flawed, 20 year old study from Switzerland that looked at exhaust gas emissions from pre-1999 bikes – which emit far more pollution than the Euro 3, Euro 4 and Euro 5 machinery that makes up the vast majority of bikes ridden in London.
The Hackney campaigners presented a petition to the council last November, and councillors agreed to refer the charges decision back to the cabinet. But they refused to consider any new evidence: that’s a crucial decision which campaigners say is flawed, and likely to mean the extremely harsh parking policy will remain.
Save London Motorcycling said, “While we were pleased that our petition was referred to cabinet, we have serious concerns that the motion to consider relevant, up-to-date evidence was voted down. This seems an abdication of Hackney’s responsibility to consider all relevant evidence when making decisions, and for policies to be proportionate, rational and fair. Cabinet were presented with incorrect and incomplete information when taking the decision in 2021 to align motorcycle parking with car parking charges. Consequently, we consider the decision itself to be invalid and it must be looked at again, taking into account accurate and relevant evidence on motorcycle emissions and their importance to London’s mobility and economy.”
The NMC’s Craig Carey-Clinch said: “NMC members are extremely concerned that if Hackney successfully imposes these charges, it could open the floodgates to disproportionate parking charges elsewhere in London and across the UK. We are delighted to lend the NMC’s support to the great work done by SLM and London MAG so far and will be working closely with them as the next steps for the campaign are considered.”