Protest ride-out against London borough parking charges planned for October

A protest is being organised by a London-based motorcycle group in opposition to the proposed parking charges in the Hackney borough. 

Save London Motorcycling (SLM) is organising a ride-out in protest of the parking charges that are being proposed by Hackney Council. 

The protest will be taking place at midday on Saturday 8 October, in partnership with the Greater London Motorcycle Action Group (GLMAG). It will be a ride-out, starting at Downs Park Road.

“The proposed charges are an insult. Hackney Council are imposing this tax on hard working Londoners in the middle of a cost of living crisis,” Save London Motorcycling said.

The original plan for the protest ride-out was to go on Sunday 11 September from Amhurst Road Car Park near Hackney Central Train Station, but was rescheduled to Saturday 10 September and relocated to Downs Park Road. The death of Queen Elizabeth II meant the protest had to be delayed again, and now the (hopefully) final date for the ride-out is on the aforementioned 8 October.

The parking charges the ride-out (which you can sign-up for on Facebook) is in protest of would force motorcyclists either living, working, or passing through Hackney to pay up to £14,000 per year (£6 per hour, £60 per day) to park in the borough. 

Hackney Council claims this is for environmental purposes, as internal combustion engines (ICE) contribute to the climate crisis. The view of the Council is that ICE bikes contribute in the same way as ICE cars. However, as we explained in our previous article on this subject, this is not true. 

Different ICEs burn fuel at different rates, and for each litre of fuel that an engine burns it will produce just over two kilograms of carbon dioxide. These two facts mean that charging all bikes equally, and treating them equally with cars, does not make sense. 

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