Cllr David Williams explains the new parking proposals

9.41.00am GMT Fri 6th Feb 2009

'The Smart Card is a $25 or $50 rechargeable parking card, which can be used to pay for parking at most parking meters in the City of Fredericton [Canada].  Smart Cards may be purchased at the City Hall . . '

• [Feb 06]: David Williams writes: YOU would never guess from all the shrill attacks on Richmond Council's parking proposals that most people will benefit from the changes. I'll repeat that, most people will benefit from the changes.

This is because:

1. All but the largest engine cars (bands F & G) will pay the same with a smart card or mobile phone, and bands A & B will pay less.

2. The smart card will be easier to use than coins, and much easier to use than vouchers, and will last until the car is sold.

3. Smart cards can be bought for their car by both residents and visitors, and topped up remotely like Oyster cards.

4. In the longer term this smart card could be combined with the Leisure Card and the Library Card.

5. Mobile phone registration will take a few minutes, thereafter it is simpler than cash payment.

6. Motorists will only need to pay for the time they are parked, not add on a safety margin.

7. A text message can be sent to your mobile phone when your meter time is about to expire.

8. Parking time can be extended remotely for mobile phone parkers if you are delayed.

9. Shops will benefit because it will be easier to pay at meters.

Cash payment at the full rate will, of course, still be an option. But how many bus passengers still use cash instead of the cheaper Oyster Card? Almost none. As with London buses, Richmond Council is moving parking payment into the 21st century. And as with parking permits, we are saying smaller engines should pay less, and larger engines should pay more. This has operated without controversy for Vehicle Excise Duty since 2001, apart from some owners of gas guzzlers.

Opposition has mainly come from two groups:

Those who want to drive large vehicles most of the time are furious they will have to pay more. They invent all sorts of reasons why they shouldn't pay more which don't hold water when examined. The same motorists attacked Richmond Council two years ago when we converted the flat charge for parking permits to a sliding scale. They ignored the fact that the smaller cars pay less, and the smallest get free permits. Councils all over London have copied what Richmond Council did, including Conservative Kensington and Chelsea. David Cameron on television supported what Richmond Council did. Perhaps the silliest comment two years ago was, "You want us to drive smaller cars, but you can't get a Weimaraner in a Smart Car."In fact, you could even get a Rottweiler in a Smart Car without much training. One sitting on the passenger seat, smiling at a parking attendant, would make a nice press photo!

The other opponents are the local Conservatives. Sadly, their attitude to politics is to oppose everything supported by the Liberal Democrats, even attacking policies they supported when they ran the Council. Their opposition is at best misleading, and downright dishonest in some cases. They claim, without saying why, that the changes are a tax on shops. Yet shops will benefit from these changes as shoppers will be able to park more easily. Most motorists need not pay more, and some will pay less.

The Tories claim in a leaflet that abolition of the cumbersome and expensive voucher system will cause "some small Post Offices to lose over £1,000 of business." No Post Office will lose that much in voucher commissions, which are only about £10,000 in total spread across 35 outlets, in or near the six voucher parking areas. And Richmond Council is looking to distribute the smart card and mobile phone registration through local shops and post offices.

The Tories posture as a "green" party, but oppose every green initiative the Liberal Democrats take. They would probably have opposed Oyster Cards, if the Liberal Democrats had proposed them, perhaps saying they were a "bus tax". I'm afraid our local Tories are the Gas Guzzlers' party.