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News and Comment May 2011

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11 May (Part 1) - Freedom to Misinform

Car park fullA reply to a recent Freedom of Information (FOI) request…

“Parking spaces are provided at a number of our administrative buildings. Staff based at the Civic Offices make use of the spare capacity in both the Albion Road and Cinema car parks except for the weeks running up to Christmas where staff parking is restricted. All staff currently receive free car parking although this will change when the Council relocates its administrative buildings onto one site. No revenue is lost from the public as Council staff are using spare capacity in the car parks.”

What planet are they living on? If there is spare capacity in council car parks and it is given to Bexley council employees to freely use of course revenue is lost. Most obviously it is lost because the spare capacity could be sold off at an attractive price to other local employers. How much is the benefit of being entirely exempt from the council’s draconian parking enforcement regime worth? How much revenue is lost when a car park is full because it is crammed with council employee’s cars?

This is another example of how Bexley council’s priority is not its residents but its fat cat salaries, the inflated councillor allowances and privileges for its staff. Councillors have their own free car park; can’t have them harassed by gestapo wagons like everyone else or having to dip into their £22,650 allowances can we? I would suggest another FOI along the lines of…

“Is the free car parking facility declared as a benefit in kind for tax purposes and does the exemption from charges apply at weekends and on bank holidays?”

In accordance with Bonkers’ policy of not indulging in deliberate deception (that’s Bexley council’s job) I must inform you that the Car Park Full photograph above is a Photoshop job. It did not originally say “Full”.

 

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