Gas Guzzler Cars

[Shizara]

I see they are considering making the cost of parking permits for residents in Richmond higher or lower depending on the gas guzzling capabilities.

"Richmond upon Thames residents with two high-emission cars could pay £750 a year, compared with £200 now, but the greenest cars would be exempt."

That really is extortion. Many need to have a vehicle. For those of us that try to manage using public transport for various reasons, now wouldn't it be nice if they gave as a council tax credit for NOT adding to the already congested streets and therefore contributing more emissions of unpleasant things into the atmosphere? - Likely that would be a Fantasy Island dream. On the other side of the coin catch 22 could be applicable there. :(

[chillitt]

my car (which is a 4x4:eek: ) is carbon neutral cos it runs on vegetable oil. thats zero co2 from fossil fuels. do you think richmond will have a system intelligent enough to cope with that? they should pay me to park there..:rolleyes:
and oh, how i hate the phrase 'gas guzzling 4x4'...

[Shizara]

I doubt the system would cope with that. It is rather like me explaining to an ISP that I could not possibly have a Windows virus on the Acorn computer. The software and programmes are not compatible. Once I received a joke piccy from a friend... went to open it and the Acorn threw it's ickle hands up and asked what I expected it to do with this alien piece of work? - My words but am sure you get the picture. The information went whoosh over the top of his head. In a like manner I daresay a 4x4 running on vegetable oil not producing CO2 from fossil fuels is likely beyond their comprehension. - "It does not compute." - The person on the end of the phone -----> :confused:

[Will]

Motorists are such easy targets for local councils, ever since the government handed over responsibility to them, many (and I can think of more then a few local councils) use it to exploit motorists at every opportunity.

[Shizara]

Easy targets for cash flow. Litterbugs could be too if they bothered to monitor the situation. Sometimes our town centre looks like a tip. I can't believe that it all jumps out of Litter bins.

I think they have someone that spends hours working out how to tax the motorists more, after all, it is likely seen as a renewable resource.

[chillitt]

well. i for one wont ever park in richmond again. that'll learn 'em!:rolleyes:

[Shizara]

When I first arrived here I decided then the cost of buying and running a car in this part of the world was gastronomical and made the decision to try and manage without. To be honest, I would rather be in a country village or even a rural area as I have come from life on a farm but would need a car so it is catch 22 and am currently in a market town and walk to the railway station. However, it does become a problem on weekends with replacement buses and no trains to Birmingham - based there - until nearly lunch time on Sundays.

Of course to have services on weekends you need to have staff to run them and most people enjoy their weekends off, however, I would hate to see a time whereby weekends have totally lost the meaning that they once had. A reprieve from the end of a Monday - Friday working week and time to spend with families and friends or doing other activities.

I will still try and manage without a car and continue to wonder how some households can afford to own and run more than one now that prices have soared.

[Lex]

I heard an interesting fact on the news the other day. apparently, petrol sales have dropped by 25-odd% over the last 10 years or so due to people buying smaller cars and the recession.