Why e-Petitions at the Number 10 website are a waste of time....

[SoulKiss]

Just had the response from Gordy about the epetition against the Parking Tax

Originally Posted by response from #10

Tuesday 31 March 2009
Bikeparkingfees - epetition response

We received a petition asking:

“We the undersigned petition the Prime Minister to to ask Westminster council to scrap the charges for motorcycles to park in their borough.”

Details of Petition:

“This is an unfair tax and clearly not well thought out. It is an irresponsible reacton to people moving from cars to motorcycles as a cheaper and quicker and LESS congestive form of transport. The council obviously reacted to having to increase the number of spaces by charging which is counter productive to reducing the congestion in london. They should be promoting motorcycling not discouraging it.”

· Read the petition
· Petitions homepage
Read the Government’s response

The responsibility for parking matters in London – including the provision of motorcycle parking bays - generally rests with the relevant local authority, in this case Westminster Council. Under the provisions of the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 local authorities are able to introduce parking payment schemes in their area. The implementation of such schemes, including the terms and methods of payment, is strictly a matter for the local authority concerned due to the fact that they are best placed to take account of local circumstances.

Just shows how useful the epetitions site is and why I dont respond to them any more - my total experience with the system is for them to wash their hands of the matter....

copied from my other post to save derailing that - http://forums.sv650.org/showpost.php?p=1844978&postcount=112

[Dave20046]

yup I just deleted the mail as if anyone would listen to us simple **** munchers

I agree that they are, in themselves, an utter waste of time. The only instance I can see where they might be useful, is when the media latch onto the content of a petition and getting it more time in the news. There's the chance it could become a 'hot topic' in the press and that might sway the government. Still, in terms of amount of time/effort spent on your part versus likelihood of effecting change, it is a very inefficient means of doing so. Writing to your MP is only marginally more effort and vastly more likely to make a difference. Make sure it's checked by someone who can write formally if you're not used to letter writing; it'll carry far more weight.

With regard to this particular petition and them doing this in Westminster, it'll happen elsewhere soon. The rest of local government follows London and the rest of London follows Westminster. What happens there, will usually spread out to other areas over the following few years.

Originally Posted by SoulKiss

Just had the response from Gordy about the epetition against the Parking Tax



Just shows how useful the epetitions site is and why I dont respond to them any more - my total experience with the system is for them to wash their hands of the matter....

copied from my other post to save derailing that - http://forums.sv650.org/showpost.php?p=1844978&postcount=112

So you're petitioning Number 10, who have absolutely no control over Westminster Council and then moaning that you don't get a satisfactory response from them.

[SoulKiss]

Originally Posted by wyrdness

So you're petitioning Number 10, who have absolutely no control over Westminster Council and then moaning that you don't get a satisfactory response from them.

And there was me thinking that the Government actually ran the country and apportioned control out to local councils, but were ultimately responsible.

How naive of me..........

Originally Posted by wyrdness

So you're petitioning Number 10, who have absolutely no control over Westminster Council and then moaning that you don't get a satisfactory response from them.

Westminster, not least because of their geographical location, have closer ties to central government than probably any other council in the UK. I would suggest that whilst Number 10 is doubtless not ultimately responsible for Westminster Council's actions, the claim that they have "absolutely no control" over them is at best an exaggeration.