Motorcyclists have told Rising East that they are extremely angry because Hackney Council has refused to review a new parking charge policy which they said could potentially cost up to £14,000 a year to park in the borough from 2023.
“Hackney Council are blindly pressing ahead with wildly disproportionate and irrational policy,” said a spokesperson for Save London Motorcycling who wished not to be named. She added that the organisation recently held a protest outside Hackney Council’s head office to demand a review of the proposed policy that would soon be implemented and that she thought was motivated by money.
“It’s hard to see £14,000 a year per motorcycle commuter wouldn’t aim to bring in money,” she added.
Hackney Council expects anyone from another borough to now pay an estimated £3 per hour for parking. Motorcyclists claim that solo motorcycle bays are changed £6 per hour and residents permits cost up to £850 a year for a motorcycle, business permits up to £1800.”
The Council claimed that they based their decision on a 20-year-old study in Switzerland which said motorcycles were as polluting as cars.
A petition by Save London Motorcycling has garnered nearly 8,000 signatures.
“We are extremely concerned about the effects that these charges will have on riders who live and work in Hackney considering the cost-of-living crisis,” the Save London Motorcycling said in the petition. According to the organisation, most riders have said they will have to move or change jobs out of Hackney because of the “disproportionate and unjustified” charges.
Hackney Council has so far refused to review their policy and has not responded to Rising East’s request for a response.
Edited by Nadrine Narku