Our local Conservative administration has been shouting about their pride at being a tax cutting regime. Yes, you too will benefit from the 20p a week cut to your council tax. What will you spend yours on? I have big plans for mine. I will save it up for a month and then I'm going to get myself a bag of salt and vinegar crisps. With the 10p change I am going to send Richard Cornelius, leader of the council, a "Thank You" text. I personally believe that if someone performs an act of kindness, however small, you should thank them, even if the generosity is being made with our own money.
Of course this morning, a few people in Barnet will be waking up with very different feelings towards the Council. Let me explain why. Last night myself and my good Lady took our two doggies for a rather nice walkies. The destination was the Adam & Eve pub on the Ridgeway, Mill Hill. Just outside the pub, there is a short section of single yellow line. It runs until midnight. If you are not familiar with the area, you might miss the rather inconveniently placed sign, telling you what the hours are. Every night when I go to the pub, I see a few cars parked on this particular yellow line. As with last night, when I leave, having had a pleasant drink, the cars invariably have a ticket. You see this little stretch of yellow line is a nice little earner for Barnet Council. There is no earthly reason for the Yellow line to be active at 9pm on a Saturday night, other than to rake in the cash. In short, it is one of a whole set of rather odd parking restrictions, designed solely to mug the poor, unsuspecting motorist, who doesn't know the quirks of Barnets parking schemes. The fact that these little stretches are enforced with a zeal that Joseph Stalin's secret police would be proud of demonstrates just how much of a scam these are. The biggest of these scams is the matchday exclusion zone, sorry CPZ, that covers much of Mill Hill. This operates from 1pm till 6pm, even though the rugby lasts 80 minutes and all of the spectators will be in the ground by 3pm. It was quite clear that a half hour scheme from 3.30 - 4.30 would do the trick. The council responded by saying match times change. The answer was simple, make the half hour reflect the start time. It was said that Saracens would meet the cost of setting the scheme up, so electronic signs could easily have been installed. But no, you see the Council earns a fortune from parking fines. Every fine pays for hundreds of people to have a 20p tax cut for a week. So last night, the three poor victims of the Council muggers, had paid for everyone else in the pub to have a 20p tax cut for a couple of weeks. Is this fair? I happen to think that it is disgusting how the Barnet Motorist has been used as a cash cow. The High Court agreed with me and declared the Council's CPZ hike illegal.
There are a whole swathe of other stealth tax hikes in Barnet. Since the Tories took over, we've seen huge hikes in the cost of burials for dead babies. I cannot think of a sicker tax, but the council simply couldn't give a ****. They have even handed over the management of cemetaries to Capita, with a specific mandate to "make a profit". Apparently they want to make my visit to see my dead Mum & Dad a "better experience".
The truth is that this immoral and worthless tax cut is being paid for by the victims of these stealth taxes. Enjoy your free bag of crisps courtesy of Mr Cornelius in April.
Showing posts with label Stealth Taxes. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Stealth Taxes. Show all posts
Sunday, 9 March 2014
Friday, 6 April 2012
Brian Coleman induced parking mayhem spreads across Barnet
Earlier in the week, we learned that Councillor Brian Colemans decision to abolish free parking bays last year had caused mayem on Bittacy Hill. Buses were held up, the Police had got involved, local residents were inconvenienced and traffic flow was impaired. As parking restrictions are designed to "improve traffic flow", it is clear that Coleman has produced a policy which doesn't work. Not only that, it may be illegal, as it is clearly a revenue raising move (yet another Colemanite Stealth tax).
It appears that Bittacy Hill is not the only place in Barnet to be under the "Coleman Cosh". The Barnet Eye today learned that Bunns Lane in Mill Hill is also suffering. As with the Bittacy Hill cock up, Barnet Council have tried to bury the bad news, by releasing the information as an officer released DPR. Clearly Brian Coleman wants no association with the failure of his policy to be associated with him, in the run up to the GLA elections.
Here is a link to the report
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=11121
And here is what its says Colemans policies have done to traffic in Bunns Lane Mill Hill.
Parking Zones (CPZs). Subsequent to the changes being made to the Mill Hill CPZ,
Councillor Rayner and TFL have reported that an increased level of parking is
occurring on both sides of Bunns Lane between the junction of Woodcroft Avenue
and the mini roundabout at the junction with Grahame Park Way which is just
outside of the CPZ boundary.
transport links parking their vehicles throughout the day. Motorists are parking as
close as possible to the current restrictions which is causing obstruction for larger
vehicles including buses and commercial vehicles resulting in an increase in
order to improve traffic flow along these stretches of road:
shown on the drawing 21729/744 appended to this report.
issue at this location.
As one may have come to expect from our useless and cowardly Mill Hill and Hale Ward Tory Councillors, there has been no attempt to stand up for the hard pressed commuters of Mill Hill, who resnet being stung by extortionate car packing charges at Mill Hill Broadway Station car park. These were hiked to £5 a day last year. Who can blame ordinary working people for wishing to try and avoid such daylight robbery. There is no mention from them that prior to Brian Colemans cash grabbing abolition of Free bays, this wasn't a problem. There is no mention of the fact that there is widespread opposition to the CPZ parking hikes.
Section 8.6 gives the game away. Of six councillors informed of the changes affecting their ward, only one Sury Khatri appears to have bothered to respond. What does this tell us about the Conservative Councillors who now represent Mill Hill and Hale Ward. It strikes me as likely that the council planned to roll out these sort of sneaky parking restrictions across the Borough, under the radar as officer approved DPR's. I urge the opposition Labour and Lib Dem councillors to call all of these in for review to expose Colemans policies for the abject failure and cash grab, which everyone knows they are.
I stood for election in May 2010 for Mill Hill Ward. I lost out to the Conservatives. They get [paid thousands of pounds a year to represent the people of Mill Hill. This DPR lays bare just how useless and lazy they are. How hard is it to read your paperwork and let the Council know when the people you represent are being fleeced. Brian Coleman has materially damaged the infrastructure of Mill Hill, with his cash grabbing policies and our councillors are to scared of him to say a dickie bird about it. Shame on all of them. As to the Hale Councillors, they are even more useless. Tome Davey is on the Cabinet and has waved all of these Tax the motorist policies through, stopping only to abuse people on benefits at every opportunity. Councillor Hugh Rayner is the chairman of the Local Conservative Party and so is clearly hand in glove with Coleman and his grab your cash policies. As to the other Hale Councillor, he's so useless, I can't even remember his name. Maybe he's the invisible man. Maybe he's a figment of Councillor Robert Rams imagination. If he's ever lifted a finger to stop the good people of Hale Ward being ripped off by Brian Coleman please feel free to add a comment, because he must have done it in secret.
The Barnet Eye will continue to fight to save the hard pressed families and commuters of Mill Hill from the cash grabbing excesses of Brian Coleman and his policies of Stealth taxation. It seems that in Mill Hill, you only see Tory Councillors when they want your vote. You will find the Barnet Eye here 365 days a year fighting for you. Enjoy your Easter
Here is the full document for your perusal
1604 - Introduction of Waiting Restrictions
It appears that Bittacy Hill is not the only place in Barnet to be under the "Coleman Cosh". The Barnet Eye today learned that Bunns Lane in Mill Hill is also suffering. As with the Bittacy Hill cock up, Barnet Council have tried to bury the bad news, by releasing the information as an officer released DPR. Clearly Brian Coleman wants no association with the failure of his policy to be associated with him, in the run up to the GLA elections.
Here is a link to the report
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=11121
And here is what its says Colemans policies have done to traffic in Bunns Lane Mill Hill.
8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
8.1
Bunns Lane/Grahame Park Way NW7
In June 2011 the Council completed a scheme whereby all ‘Free’ parking bays
were converted to permit holder or paid for parking bays in the borough’s ControlledParking Zones (CPZs). Subsequent to the changes being made to the Mill Hill CPZ,
Councillor Rayner and TFL have reported that an increased level of parking is
occurring on both sides of Bunns Lane between the junction of Woodcroft Avenue
and the mini roundabout at the junction with Grahame Park Way which is just
outside of the CPZ boundary.
8.2 Bunns Lane has seen an increase in parking activity since the removal of the free
bays in the adjoining CPZ by motorists, suspected to be commuters using the localtransport links parking their vehicles throughout the day. Motorists are parking as
close as possible to the current restrictions which is causing obstruction for larger
vehicles including buses and commercial vehicles resulting in an increase in
congestion along this section of Bunns Lane. A site visit by Officers and Councillor
Rayner confirmed that obstructive parking is detrimental to traffic flow.
8.3 As a result of these observations, it is intended to propose and implement ‘At Any
Time’ waiting restrictions in lengths of Bunns Lane and Grahame Park Way, inorder to improve traffic flow along these stretches of road:
8.4 In addition, it is also proposed to extend the existing Monday to Saturday 8am to
6.30pm waiting restrictions in Bunns Lane for a short length. The proposal isshown on the drawing 21729/744 appended to this report.
8.5 Councillor Rayner has since reaffirmed his views and support for the proposals. In
particular, Councillor Rayner advised of his concerns regarding safety being anissue at this location.
8.6 All Hale Ward and Mill Hill Ward Members have been consulted on the proposals
Councillor Sury Khatri has confirmed his support for the measures.As one may have come to expect from our useless and cowardly Mill Hill and Hale Ward Tory Councillors, there has been no attempt to stand up for the hard pressed commuters of Mill Hill, who resnet being stung by extortionate car packing charges at Mill Hill Broadway Station car park. These were hiked to £5 a day last year. Who can blame ordinary working people for wishing to try and avoid such daylight robbery. There is no mention from them that prior to Brian Colemans cash grabbing abolition of Free bays, this wasn't a problem. There is no mention of the fact that there is widespread opposition to the CPZ parking hikes.
Section 8.6 gives the game away. Of six councillors informed of the changes affecting their ward, only one Sury Khatri appears to have bothered to respond. What does this tell us about the Conservative Councillors who now represent Mill Hill and Hale Ward. It strikes me as likely that the council planned to roll out these sort of sneaky parking restrictions across the Borough, under the radar as officer approved DPR's. I urge the opposition Labour and Lib Dem councillors to call all of these in for review to expose Colemans policies for the abject failure and cash grab, which everyone knows they are.
I stood for election in May 2010 for Mill Hill Ward. I lost out to the Conservatives. They get [paid thousands of pounds a year to represent the people of Mill Hill. This DPR lays bare just how useless and lazy they are. How hard is it to read your paperwork and let the Council know when the people you represent are being fleeced. Brian Coleman has materially damaged the infrastructure of Mill Hill, with his cash grabbing policies and our councillors are to scared of him to say a dickie bird about it. Shame on all of them. As to the Hale Councillors, they are even more useless. Tome Davey is on the Cabinet and has waved all of these Tax the motorist policies through, stopping only to abuse people on benefits at every opportunity. Councillor Hugh Rayner is the chairman of the Local Conservative Party and so is clearly hand in glove with Coleman and his grab your cash policies. As to the other Hale Councillor, he's so useless, I can't even remember his name. Maybe he's the invisible man. Maybe he's a figment of Councillor Robert Rams imagination. If he's ever lifted a finger to stop the good people of Hale Ward being ripped off by Brian Coleman please feel free to add a comment, because he must have done it in secret.
The Barnet Eye will continue to fight to save the hard pressed families and commuters of Mill Hill from the cash grabbing excesses of Brian Coleman and his policies of Stealth taxation. It seems that in Mill Hill, you only see Tory Councillors when they want your vote. You will find the Barnet Eye here 365 days a year fighting for you. Enjoy your Easter
Here is the full document for your perusal
1604 - Introduction of Waiting Restrictions
Tuesday, 3 April 2012
Open letter to Richard Cornelius and Barnet councillors: time to get a grip on parking!
 |
| Brian Coleman - Parking Stealth tax supemo |
It beggars belief that a supposedly Conservative Council can be so anti business, anti car driver and anti local resident. Whilst David Cameron speaks of less regulation and business friendly policies, Brian Coleman, the GLA Car tax and regulation rampage, causing irrepairable damage to business, local communities and the environment.
I spoke to one specialist shopkeeper in Barnet who is now considering relocating to Boreham Wood in Hertfordshire, as most of his customers are not Barnet residents, are not registered to pay by phone and so are refusing to use his business. This is being repeated all over Barnet. It beggars belief that a Conservative administration, which has been made fully aware of the problem, is still burying its head in the sand.
This is a major test of the Leadership of Richard Cornelius. It is clear that Brian Colemans park and tax policies are an abject failure. How will he respond?
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Dear Leader and Barnet Councillors,
On 20th March a document was placed upon the Barnet Council website entitled - Bittacy Hill_Introduction_of_Waiting_Restrictions - (http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=11110).
This document details the mayhem caused by the abolition of free bays in Controlled Parking Zones as part of Councillor Brian Coleman's parking policies.
This document details how the Barnet Police have had their time wasted, congestion has been caused, buses have been delayed, residents inconvenienced, and people's safety has been endangered. In short, it is the most damning indictment of a Council policy possible.
The background information section of this document says:
8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
8.1 In June 2011 the Council completed a scheme whereby all ‘Free’ parking bays were converted to permit holder or paid for parking bays in the borough’s Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs). As a result of the changes made to the Mill Hill East CPZ, a proportionate level of displaced parking is occurring on both sides of Bittacy Hill on the outskirts of the CPZ boundary.
8.2 The council has been contacted by roads users and local residents, complaining of the congestion being caused as through vehicles are being obstructed by the displaced parking.
8.3 London Buses have reported to the council that the displaced parking is obscuring sightlines and obstructing through traffic, preventing their buses from gaining suitable access through the road, resulting in the delay of their services. They also stated that this situation has caused major congestion in both directions on Bittacy Hill and therefore, have had to temporarily put some of their buses on diversion.
8.4 In addition, the Police have also expressed concerns regarding this location, and have requested for waiting restrictions to be introduced.
8.5 Following investigations including site observations, Officers concluded that major congestion occurs on the hill at this location, and in order to keep traffic moving through the borough considered that the provision of waiting restrictions would be appropriate given the obstructive parking which is taking place.
8.6 Therefore, proposals to introduce lengths of ‘at any time’ waiting restrictions on certain lengths of Bittacy Hill including around its junctions with Bittacy Close and Engle Park, were designed in order to deter obstructive parking and improve traffic flow, sightlines and safety.
8.7 In anticipation of the statutory consultation, Mill Hill Ward Members were consulted on the proposals with all advising of their agreement and support of the measures for the area. In particular, Councillors Khatri and Hart stated that they had also received complaints on this matter or have experienced problems themselves. Councillor Hart did raise the issue that more restrictions may cause more problems to the wider area as did Councillor Schama.
8.8 However, Officers consider that any displaced parking that may occur as a result of the introduction of the restrictions can be absorbed into the local network with minimal impact.
8.9 In mid August it was necessary to introduce emergency temporary waiting restrictions on the eastern side of Bittacy Hill, as nearby Devonshire Road was closed to allow for essential maintenance works to take place, which resulted in an increased traffic flow on Bittacy Hill that exasperated the problems occurring at the location.
8.9 Traffic cones were placed on street to indicate the temporary waiting restrictions, and the location was monitored by Officers. Observations showed that displaced parking was minimal and what did occur had little impact on the area. It was concluded that the removal of the parked vehicles at this location was very effective in relieving the congestion normally experienced.
8.10 Additional supporting evidence underlining the concern via photographs showing buses being obstructed and the congestion experienced were sent to the council and a petition signed by all residents of Bittacy Close was also submitted, asking for waiting restrictions to be implemented at the junction of Bittacy Close and Bittacy Hill.
8.14 Councillor Khatri and Councillor Hart have since also reaffirmed their views and support for the proposals. In particular, they advised of their concerns regarding safety being an issue at this location. Councillor Hart also re-iterated his concerns for residents of Bittacy Close, who suffer from obstruction at the junction of Bittacy Close and Bittacy Hill.
Councillor Brian Coleman ignored all wise counsel in order to introduce these policies. He ignored all efforts to mitigate the problems caused.As a result, we have a situation where ever more parking restrictions will be required to fix a problem that did not previously exist.
To what end? To inconvenience and overcharge local residents.
It is time for Barnet Council to have an urgent rethink. It is time to reinstate free bays, cut parking charges on Barnet’s high streets, and, most of all, it is time to put someone in charge of parking who is competent.
There is no way that Barnet Council can pretend that Coleman’s parking policies are anything other than an unmitigated disaster. Your own document says so in black and white.
Signed:
Derek Dishman
John Dix
Vicki Morris
Theresa Musgrove
Roger Tichborne
Monday, 2 April 2012
Official document prove Brian Colemans parking policies are a disaster
Last July Councillor Brian Coleman sneaked through a whole raft of changes to Parking restrictions in Barnet. He is well known for his stealth tax his parking policies. The five main ones, which have affected just about everyone are as follows :-
1) Hiking up parking charges on High Streets and car parks, driving away customers and shutting shops
2) Aboloshing pay and display parking on High Streets
3) Hiking up the price of Resident CPZ permits
4) Abolition of "free bays" in Resident CPZ parking zones
5) Outsourcing the parking warden contract to a company with a reputation for overzealous enforcement
All of these measures are designed to do one thing. Squeeze more money out of motorists and residents. Sadly for Brian Coleman (and the rest of us), not only have these policies failed miserably in their target of raising extra cash ( rumour has it that the parking account is down by £500,000 as people shun council car parks). As people have sought free spaces outside of the restrictions, roads have become clogged, congestion has risen and residents have been inconvenienced.
Given that the sole purpose of parking restrictions is to "ease the flow of traffic", this means that the policy has not only been an abject failure, but it is probably illegal. Coleman cannot claim that the policy is to ease traffic flow, because papers published on the Council website prove this is not the case. The Barnet Eye suggests that a judicial review should be performed of Colemans policies and in the meantime they should be reversed. The complete failure of Colemans policies are laid bare in this document on the Barnet Council website -
http://committeepapers.barnet.gov.uk/democracy/reports/reportdetail.asp?ReportID=11110
Let me quote the document :-
8. BACKGROUND INFORMATION
8.1 In June 2011 the Council completed a scheme whereby all ‘Free’ parking bays were converted to permit holder or paid for parking bays in the borough’s Controlled Parking Zones (CPZs). As a result of the changes made to the Mill Hill East CPZ, a proportionate level of displaced parking is occurring on both sides of Bittacy Hill on the outskirts of the CPZ boundary.
8.2 The council has been contacted by roads users and local residents, complaining of the congestion being caused as through vehicles are being obstructed by the displaced parking.
8.3 London Buses have reported to the council that the displaced parking is obscuring sightlines and obstructing through traffic, preventing their buses from gaining suitable access through the road, resulting in the delay of their services. They also stated that this situation has caused major congestion in both directions on Bittacy Hill and therefore, have had to temporarily put some of their buses on diversion.
8.4 In addition, the Police have also expressed concerns regarding this location, and have requested for waiting restrictions to be introduced.
8.5 Following investigations including site observations, Officers concluded that major congestion occurs on the hill at this location, and in order to keep traffic movingthrough the borough considered that the provision of waiting restrictions would be appropriate given the obstructive parking which is taking place.
8.6 Therefore, proposals to introduce lengths of ‘at any time’ waiting restrictions on certain lengths of Bittacy Hill including around its junctions with Bittacy Close and Engle Park, were designed in order to deter obstructive parking and improve traffic flow, sightlines and safety.
8.7 In anticipation of the statutory consultation, Mill Hill Ward Members were consulted on the proposals with all advising of their agreement and support of the measures for the area. In particular, Councillors Khatri and Hart stated that they had also received complaints on this matter or have experienced problems themselves. Councillor Hart did raise the issue that more restrictions may cause more problems to the wider area as did Councillor Schama.
8.8 However, Officers consider that any displaced parking that may occur as a result of the introduction of the restrictions can be absorbed into the local network with
minimal impact.
8.9 In mid August it was necessary to introduce emergency temporary waiting restrictions on the eastern side of Bittacy Hill, as nearby Devonshire Road was closed to allow for essential maintenance works to take place, which resulted in an increased traffic flow on Bittacy Hill that exasperated the problems occurring at the location.
8.9 Traffic cones were placed on street to indicate the temporary waiting restrictions, and the location was monitored by Officers. Observations showed that displaced parking was minimal and what did occur had little impact on the area. It was concluded that the removal of the parked vehicles at this location was very effective in relieving the congestion normally experienced.
8.10 Additional supporting evidence underlining the concern via photographs showing buses being obstructed and the congestion experienced were sent to the council and a petition signed by all residents of Bittacy Close was also submitted, asking for waiting restrictions to be implemented at the junction of Bittacy Close and Bittacy Hill.
8.14 Councillor Khatri and Councillor Hart have since also reaffirmed their views and support for the proposals. In particular, they advised of their concerns regarding safety being an issue at this location. Councillor Hart also re-iterated his concerns for residents of Bittacy Close, who suffer from obstruction at the junction of Bittacy Close and Bittacy Hill.
Bittacy Hill Parking restrictions
This document lays bare the failure of the parking policies of Brian Coleman. It exposes the fact that rather than easing traffic flow, they are creating mayhem, tying up Police resources, ruining the lives of residents, making buses late and worst of all threatening public safety. In short Brian Coleman and his polices have been thoroughly discredited. Even worse is the fact that rather than admit that Colemans policies are to blame, the lame Mill Hill Conservative Councillors have buried their heads in the sand and refused to address the real cause of the problem.
The Barnet Eye will today be contacting local press, local councillors and the Leadership of Barnet Council to demand a full review of the disaster which Brian Coleman has inflicted on the London Borough of Barnet. Is there anyone in Barnet who seriously thinks that Brian Coleman deserves re-election for a £52,000 a year part time job at the GLA in MAy? His level of competence is laid bare here.
Monday, 2 January 2012
Monday, 9 May 2011
Barnet CPZ Special - Brian Coleman is Barnet's very own Gordon Brown
I am truly shocked by the latest revelations concerning the battle between Barnet residents and the Council, who are seeking to impose massive new stealth taxes in the form of a CPZ parking fee hike. Local Conservatives have over the years tried to tell me that Brian Coleman is a "true Tory". Sadly this lie has been exposed as he's the bloke who is championing this HUGE STEALTH TAX INCREASE. The Tories used to mock Gordon Brown for his "addiction to stealth taxes" which he hiked in an attempt to keep down income tax. Well Brian Coleman is quite clearly Barnet Councils very own Gordon Brown. 10% of the population use CPZ parking permits - Not the richest 10% who have drives and don't need one, just the middle 10% who own smallish homes, with no room for a drive. Typically the type of people who are struggling to get on.
As if clobbering this unfortunate section of the population wasn't bad enough, Barnet Council has now launched a dirty war against them, for having the audacity to complain. The protestors, lead by David Attfield have asked for a judicial review. Barnet Council have responded with bully boy tactics. They have hired a top QC and their defence tactics state the following :-
1. The case only concerns "a limited number of residents of the Borough of Barnet" and, therefore, is not a case of broad importance.
2. David is simply opposed to the "extent of spending cuts in Barnet" and his claim is "purely political". His remedy should be the ballot box and not the court.
3. David's case "is solely based on his desire to avoid incurring extra financial expense to park outside his home".
Regarding the first point. Given the widespread support for David Attfields campaign and the fact that the changes affect 100% of the residents of Barnet (those that don't pay CPZ fees being subsidised by those that do), the first point is plainly a bare faced porkie.
As to the second point. Davids campaign has nothing to do with cuts. It is all about the cost of parking. Surely Barnet Councils defence defies all logic or sense. If David was solely concerned with cuts, he'd be pleased to see extra revenue raised from increased CPZ fees. It is clearly a slur, to try and portray David Attfield as something he isn't.
The third point is also clearly an attempt to besmirch David Attfield. His campaign has received widespread support. Many Conservative Councillors have expressed disquiet at the plan, not least Deputy Council Leader Andrew Harper (see this leaked email on the Future Shape blog)
http://barnetfutureshape.blogspot.com/2011/02/brian-coleman-is-horrified-that-parking.html
In fact the email comprehensively destroys all three of the points Barnet Council are using in their defence. Council Brian "Gordon Brown" Coleman, knows this. The officers know this. Presumably the QC knows this. I hope the Judge reads this email and sends Barnet and their expensive QC (paid for by you, me and Mr Attfield) packing.
It never ceases to amaze me, just how low Barnet Council is sinking. First Brian Coleman launches a campaign of Brownesque daylight robbery, in the form of Stealth Taxes and then the Council go to war with law abiding residents. It really makes me sick.
Read the full story here, I'm off to throw up -
http://barnetcpz.blogspot.com/2011/05/barnet-council-finally-respond-and.html
I have one message for Brian "Gordon Brown" Coleman - Your number is up mate. You have been exposed. You are a typical slimy toad of a politician, who will clobber anyone for taxes, if you think you can get away with it.
As if clobbering this unfortunate section of the population wasn't bad enough, Barnet Council has now launched a dirty war against them, for having the audacity to complain. The protestors, lead by David Attfield have asked for a judicial review. Barnet Council have responded with bully boy tactics. They have hired a top QC and their defence tactics state the following :-
1. The case only concerns "a limited number of residents of the Borough of Barnet" and, therefore, is not a case of broad importance.
2. David is simply opposed to the "extent of spending cuts in Barnet" and his claim is "purely political". His remedy should be the ballot box and not the court.
3. David's case "is solely based on his desire to avoid incurring extra financial expense to park outside his home".
Regarding the first point. Given the widespread support for David Attfields campaign and the fact that the changes affect 100% of the residents of Barnet (those that don't pay CPZ fees being subsidised by those that do), the first point is plainly a bare faced porkie.
As to the second point. Davids campaign has nothing to do with cuts. It is all about the cost of parking. Surely Barnet Councils defence defies all logic or sense. If David was solely concerned with cuts, he'd be pleased to see extra revenue raised from increased CPZ fees. It is clearly a slur, to try and portray David Attfield as something he isn't.
The third point is also clearly an attempt to besmirch David Attfield. His campaign has received widespread support. Many Conservative Councillors have expressed disquiet at the plan, not least Deputy Council Leader Andrew Harper (see this leaked email on the Future Shape blog)
http://barnetfutureshape.blogspot.com/2011/02/brian-coleman-is-horrified-that-parking.html
In fact the email comprehensively destroys all three of the points Barnet Council are using in their defence. Council Brian "Gordon Brown" Coleman, knows this. The officers know this. Presumably the QC knows this. I hope the Judge reads this email and sends Barnet and their expensive QC (paid for by you, me and Mr Attfield) packing.
It never ceases to amaze me, just how low Barnet Council is sinking. First Brian Coleman launches a campaign of Brownesque daylight robbery, in the form of Stealth Taxes and then the Council go to war with law abiding residents. It really makes me sick.
Read the full story here, I'm off to throw up -
http://barnetcpz.blogspot.com/2011/05/barnet-council-finally-respond-and.html
I have one message for Brian "Gordon Brown" Coleman - Your number is up mate. You have been exposed. You are a typical slimy toad of a politician, who will clobber anyone for taxes, if you think you can get away with it.
Friday, 28 August 2009
Mike Freer is at it again
There are lots of Tory voters in Finchley who are thoroughly sick of Gordon Brown. The thing they hate most about him is the way he's mastered the art of Stealth taxes. In the good old days, Labour chancellors like Dennis Healey and James Callaghan would bump up income tax to pay for social programs. Tory's would shriek with anger as they received their paychecks with ever greater chunks of tax deducted.
Maggie Thatcher realised that your average Joe doesn't like paying tax, no matter how good it is for him, so she came in and slashed income tax. Sadly for us poor saps, this didn't really mean we were paying less tax as she just shifted the burden on to VAT which shot up to 17.5% from 8%, but hey our paycheck looked better. As well as the VAT rise, petrol, tobacco, alcohol would go up every year without fail.
Good old Gordon watched this with fascination and informed
Now all our friendly local Tories see this as an open goal. How can they possibly fail to get back all those lovely seats they lost in 1997 to Labour? Well rather strangely, they've selected "Son of Mr Bean" to fight the Finchley seat. Our very own Council Leader Mike Freer. He's studied Gordon Brown intently for many a year. He's realised that good old Gordon is onto something. Mike and his friends at the council need to raise lots of money to pay for ever increasing councillor allowances, mushrooming pay for senior council officers and holes in the budget left by incompetently managed crackpot schemes such as the Icelandic investments debacle. Now Mike and his Tax Taskforce scoured the borough for "soft targets". Having squeezed the obvious targets (parking, traffic fines), they looked for far more sneaky targets. The most crass of these was the "dead baby tax hike" where parents of deceased infants faced huge rises in costs, way above the cost of inflation. In today's Guardian, we learn of a whole swathe of new stealth taxes. The one which most alarms me in this article is the proposal for a "fast track planning service".
The idea is that if you pay more, your plans get passed more quickly. I ask you this. If you are a big local property developer, who is paying lots of money for lots of "fast track" schemes, will your proposal be treated in the same way as a normal resident, who is struggling to make ends meet. This seems so open to abuse of process. It is a well known ploy for developers to submit plans at holiday times when potential objectors are away. If they are guaranteed a quick hearing, how will this benefit the regular citizens of Barnet who prop up the Council with thier council tax. They will come home from their summer hols to find that God knows what is going to be erected next to them, and they've missed the deadline to object.
Another proposal is to give everyone smaller bins. If you need extra rubbish removed, then you pay more cash. Now I'm all for reducing wastefulness, but this is a recipe for disaster. Have you ever ordered a skip? What happens? Well every time I've ordered one, I wake up to find it filled up with waste from my neighbours. I've even caught the shameless sods red handed. I'm sorry to say that if my experience there is anything to go by, then we are in for a lot more neighbourly disputes.
I don't go for any of these stealth taxes. Every new type of tax needs an army of bereaucrats to administer. There's a department to collect Income tax, a department to collect NI, a department to collect VAT, a department to collect Petrol Tax, a department to collect Road Tax, a department to collect dead baby tax, a department to collect booze tax, a department to collect cigarette tax,etc, etc.
I'd abolish most of them. Just have a different VAT rate for Ciggies & booze. Abolish road tax and put that on petrol (that way you pay as you go) abolish NI & put it on income tax, abolish dead baby tax and take it off councillors allowances. I'm not a flat tax advocate, but I am all for cutting out needless red tape. With most of these taxes, they bring them in, then they bring in a whole system of rebates & allowances. It's bonkers and it costs us a fortune to run. Personally, I'd rather see the money spent on something useful.
That's why I'd not let Mike Freer within a million miles of Parliament, if it was my choice.
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