Apologies in advance if this comes over a little ranty.
Does anyone recall a few years ago, Westminster Council and others decided to prevent parking on a single yellow line after 7pm?
Quite rightly, there was an outcry. Led by the Standard and Mayor Johnson to defend the enormous night-time London economy which relies on cars being able to park – theatres, restaurants, clubs, comedy clubs and dare-I-say-it jobbing comedians doing gigs…
The furore was so strong that the councillors had to relent – common sense prevailed and the people won.
Only they didn’t.
Because what the noxious councillors did was to simply buy a load of a yellow paint and they added a line to the single yellow lines that had worked so well for so long.
In London now, there are hardly any more single yellow lines – where cars happily parked post 7pm. The Embankment, Piccadilly, Regent Street, Waterloo Bridge, Kingsway, Strand… all double yellow now.
Saturday night I was appearing on Talksport – a radio station that I have long contributed to and I have always driven myself in to Waterloo – as I did this Saturday – only to find the road where I usually park is splashed in yellow.
Let’s be clear – Parking restrictions has nothing to do with regulating traffic and everything to do with income – along with box junction cameras, speed cameras and parking fines… they should all be called what they are, taxes – just means of milking money from people who have the temerity to have a car.
This has happened by creep and we are all poorer for it.
