Mark’s campaign notepad

After all those letters, threatening voice texts and phone calls Westminster have decided to drop my parking penalty. In the end I didn’t even have to go to a hearing – I just received a letter saying they weren’t proceeding. Good for me, but why did they proceed against a disabled couple in their 70s who committed the same “crime” as me, except for the fact that one of them was waiting in the car while the other picked something up for just 121 seconds against my 158!

Persecuting an elderly couple is one thing, but there’s a wider issue here, which I see time and time again when I venture out in Westminster. The Council talks about helping local traders and Cllr Danny Chalkley spouts rubbish about a common sense parking policy, but the reality is a hostile offensive against local shops and people going about their ordinary business. In recent weeks I’ve seen a parking attendant hiding so he can put a ticket on a dry cleaning van outside its own shop without being seen. I’ve seen a Royal Mail van given a ticket while the postman drops off post. And I’ve seen Tesco lorries unloading with impunity with no parking attendant to be seen.

I’m hoping to submit a full expose on what really goes on with Westminster parking policy with pictures and witness statements and I’ll be offering it to the local papers – any stories please let me have them.