Poster opposition in parking protest
A NEW poster protesting against the proposed scrapping of free parking in Shepway is to be launched today.
Depicting Shepway District Council leader Robert Bliss's head on top of a series of parking meters, UCF student Dan Catt's striking image will be displayed in Rendezvous Street above Johnny Cotter's gallery.
Almost a year since Mr Cotter's controversial image of David Beckham nailed to a cross propelled him to worldwide internet fame, Mr Catt's image will be hoisted into exactly the same spot.
The poster aims to highlight the opposition to SDC's plans to scrap free parking in many areas and replace them with meters and charges.
In a significant number of other areas, there will be paid-for residents' parking permits, although there is no guarantee all those who want a permit will get one or sufficient spaces for them to park even if they do.
The council's plans to privatise the parking services to an outside contractor are already well advanced.
The proposals have sparked fury at what has been seen as a lack of consultation with taxpayers.
Mr Cotter has consistently argued that it is "madness" to consider abolishing free parking.
He assisted Mr Catt in designing the poster which bears the slogan "Kill Your Town" beside cartoon of Mr Bliss's head on parking meters.
Mr Cotter said: "Dan's done a great job – it's a fantastic image that he's created. We hope that Robert takes it in the spirit that it's meant – it's certainly not personal..
"The message is simply that there will be meters everywhere and no business for the town.
"Is that what they really want to do?
"I don't think they seem to realise how damaging it will be to the town centre trade if this goes ahead.
"I have always argued that we should be offering people free parking, not bringing in charges."
The parking issue was due to come up at the council's overview and scrutiny committee meeting on Wednesday night after the Herald went to press.
Mr Bliss was unavailable for comment but a spokesman said: "I'm sure the leader, being the kind of person that he is, will take this in the spirit in which it is meant. I don't think that he'd be angered or rattled by it.
"But I don't think that a poster of this kind is seen as a legitimate response in the context of a public consultation."
3 Comments
by BHCRAFT
Sunday, January 15 2012, 2:08PM
“Contrary to the opinion of faceless 'council spokesman' as quoted above - I think that this poster IS a legitimate response !
Top quality public service announcement Mr. Cotter ! 'Kill Your Town' is a truly great poster and certainly as good, if not better than anything that Guardian cartoonist Steve Bell has ever produced.
One small criticism though - I think that the poster should cover the entire building, not just a small portion of it.
Not that I'd like you to think that I hate the council of course... after all... hate is such a small word...
But putting all of that aside, I love the poster, and applaud you for displaying it.
[ Cash only this time please - Small denominations - No kites ]
...Anyway, that's enough about you and your poster.... Let's talk about them...
Folkestone is our town, it does not belong to the troughing council with their endless maze of systemically parasitic systems and unnacountable fiscal star-chambers piloted by crack-pot desk jockies and sicophantic 'yes-men'. The council is totally out of touch, completely out of control and generally out to lunch (...usually at our expense, scoffing away at canapes whilst perusing the wine list). Their greedy grasping hands pilfer our pockets on every level, every which way we turn... and still we are supposed to bow and curtsey whenever their cortege hisses past.
Councils have forgotten who they work for. They are supposed to work for us - The residents - It's not the other way round.
We may well live in Folkestone, but we could just as easily be living anywhere else in the country and still be suffering onslaught after onslaught under the same gloating blankets of unaccountable wholistic exploitation... Let's face it kids, as far as this household is concerned, all they have ever ever done for us so far is empty our bins twice a month at £70 a pop and sooner or later we'll most likely all need a permit to lift our own toilet seats.
Yet still, amongst this and many other local authority's ever growing lists of wholly repugnant attributes, we are now once again expected to simply put up and shut up whilst being constantly ripped off. In this particular case it seems to be roadside coin-op money laundering, coupled with even more obscene parking charges and stupid time constraints which now make Folkestone a virtual no go area for anyone outside of reasonable walking distance who either can't, or doesn't actually want use either buses or mini cabs.
How much longer will we [i.e. the residents of Folkestone who actually pay these freeloaders their wages ] actually allow them to carry on killing small independent retailers and other businesses, whilst also telling us where we can or can't park our own vehicles on roads that we already pay for either directly through our council tax or indirectly through road tax, car insurance or at the petrol pump.”
by BHCRAFT
Sunday, January 15 2012, 2:03PM
“[cont]
. . . Speaking for this household at least... We don't actually want to use the council's own approved list of mono-culture franchises and exploit-o-matic monopolies that they endlessly try and funnel us all towards. Nor do we wander aimlessly from franchise to franchise like polaxed zombies inside their bland and generic shopping centres. Nor do we prefer any of the other various approved company store cartel-supermarkets that the tin-pot generals at the council actively herd and coerce us all us towards to in order just to fill their own coffers by acting as 'middle men'.
What we actually want is access to the town in which we live in order to be able to visit, use, and support our small and independent retailers, businesses and markets without having to pay extortionate rates just to be able to park up for an hour in order to do so. Or maybe we just want to park up somewhere or other and wander about our own part of town, or other areas of town like Sandgate or Cheriton... or maybe even spend some time on the beach. As for visitors from elsewhere who decide to visit the beach at Folkestone, once they realise that they cannot park anywhere for more than 2 hours, they'll simply go elsewhere to spend their money, and never come back.
As for us ourselves, we don't want more council led initiatives to force us to queue at checkouts in sterile 'competitively priced' out-of town chain-o-stores and other demographically focussed national tax-loss franchises just in order to bolster the councils coffers even more via the special relationships that they alone have nurtured for far too long at our expense... all just in order for them to produce subsidised parking and discount business rates that only benefit large major national retailers and the council coffers themselves.
This council (and all other council's nationwide) are continually strangling independent traders and small business at the expense of our own freedom of choice by making it impossible for small retailers to get any kind of footfall because we as the public, are unable to economically visit any retail outlets or businesses outside of those that are currently deemed suitable and appropriate - i.e. approved by some or other closed hearing of a council committee.
We actually want to use and support Folkestone, Sandgate and Cheriton's businesses, small shops and independent retailers - but we can't. This is because councils want us to use either the supermarkets, or council owned and leased industrial shopping estates and plazas. This because that is where they get the biggest kick back into their own coffers through the rates that they earn from leasing them to chain stores, who incidentally also write off any loss making stores to tax just in order to eventually crush any independent local competition that may be selling a similar product.
Everywhere throughout Folkestone itself and it's environs, there are ridiculous time constraints on parking, with charges higher than many London Boroughs. It is often impossible for joe public to find anywhere to park at all (including space in the council's own poorly maintained rip-off car parks ). Everywhere else that would, could and should be a sensible place to park is just a sea of double yellow lines... and if you can actually find anywhere to park (which on many occasions we actually can't ...AND we live here ! ) - you will be so limited in time as not even to be able to begin to leisurely explore either the shops or other 'recreational areas' in the town in which you live for fear of getting another parking ticket.”
by BHCRAFT
Sunday, January 15 2012, 2:01PM
“[cont]
. . . Buses are not appropriate for all residents, nor is cycling or walking... and anyway, their use should be a matter of choice and NOT based on local authority coercion . As for us ourselves; whenever we try to do anything other than lug heavy bags home from an very long walk into town, we just end up hating the council more and more each time. Thanks a lot guys, your current and projected parking idiocy is a death nail for this town and tantamount to nothing less economic suicide for everyone. Increasing parking tariffs and issuing more parking fines is an unsustainable way to earn revenue... and as for parking meters themselves, the price of scrap is currently falling, and so I for one certainly won't be allowing the council to dip their slippery hands into my pocket again, just in order to help bail them all out at a later date when Folkestone becomes a ghost town. If this council genuinely wants economic growth Folkestone, and a larger influx of tourists and out of town shoppers throughout all of it's environs. All areas of Shepway should be FREE PARKING with no restrictions.
Basically speaking, as far as I'm concerned, enough is enough. I think it's time for all Councils to support small shops and businesses instead of exploiting both them and us with their uneven preference to drive us all into the monopolies of either the supermarkets or other nationwide retail clone outlets. They must stop forcing us away from our own independent retailers and controlling our freedom of movement by constantly devising new methods of herding us all into their own preferred sterile and generic shopping centre carbuncles or out of town retail wastelands by making it impossible to park or vehicles anywhere else.
Don't believe their hype. Both parking meters and residents parking permits are yesterdays failed ideas at tomorrow's prices ...and it's all a total rip-off. We have had direct experience of the permit system in London and elsewhere when visiting friends...
Our friends in London and other areas have to pay extra for visitor permits, and are also charged per year for their own permits - only then to have their own private properties devalued because of the same council parking and permit restrictions. If you are unlucky enough to be on your own with a vehicle you can even get a parking ticket whilst you traipse back from a friends front door to place the visitors permit in you car !
So now in future it seems our local the star chamber has now decreed that we will be expected to blissfully pay through the nose even more to park on OUR OWN streets, or shop in OUR OWN towns... but eventually we will even have to pay to park outside OUR OWN houses, and also pay extra if we have ever the audacity to have any visitors.
We ourselves may be in a 'lucky' minority who own our own property - But it has cost us a lot of money and a lot of very hard work to do so - and so consequently we will not submit to any more exploitation from these meddling local authority despots hellbent on throwing both us and our hard earned cash under the wheels of their endless self-serving gravy train. A gravy train that delivers both poll tax and a myriad of other stealth taxes directly into their unnacountable coffers for them to then waste even more and more of our money with impunity.
Other than, and in the best spirit of the new year... I genuinely wish all trough scoffing UK councils and local authorities the very best of luck with moving all of their respective self-serving cash claw projects forward.
*Don't call us... we'll call you... Bryan Hovercraft
[*terms and conditions apply ]”