I see that councillor Craske is keen to persecute motorists again. He is
raising the price of a resident’s parking permit from £35 to £100. The excuse is
that the price of “non-core services” must be increased to cover their costs.
Now I am totally sympathetic to the view that non-core services should not be subsidised by little old ladies living alone or any other taxpayer for that
matter. If that means paying more for a DVD borrowed from the library or to have
an old fridge taken away, then so be it, it is the price we pay for Gordon Brown’s
mismanagement of the economy. But parking outside your own house isn’t even a
service. The permit is a penalty charge for having the misfortune to live close to a popular amenity.
It is as often as not the council’s idea to restrict parking to residents
which is not always a bad thing but how can it cost £35 a year to issue them with
a piece of paper to stick on their windscreen let alone £100? The restrictions
are already just a money-making scheme through extortionate parking fines. One neighbouring borough that imposes far lower taxes than Bexley - I suppose that
covers all of them but this one is across the river - doesn’t charge for
residents’ parking permits at all, but then they do not have the expenses king
Craske to contend with. If the malicious weasel was serious about cutting costs he
would make the permits valid for two years and halve the cost of administering the
schemes at a stroke. But we all know that such a dramatic increase in price of a
paper permit is just a cynical ploy by the nasty little runt to help finance the
ever-deepening expenses trough into which he can plunge his greedy snout.