Luton Airport scam

I dropped off a friend at Luton Airport recently/ The charge (not announced beforehand) was £3. That is a scandalous scam. See here. Also here.
Given that I was only there 5 minutes, that is !

A Letter to Barnet Parking Dept

Barnet have let us down once again. This is the letter I have sent them. It gets it off my chest. They never listen to a word that residents say, although they were forced to give money back two or three years back when someone took them to court. The parking system in Barnet is similar in many ways I always feel to a Mafia style racket.

 

I have long learned by past experience that Barnet Parking Dept is devoid of human compassion or kindness but I do want to register my utter dismay that once again your money making scheme has caught us out. This time it was my wife's other sister whose car was parked on our street and we forgot to put a voucher in it. It was December 29th after all, an ordinary working day as far as parking attendants are concerned so what can I do? Yes, I suppose it might have been someone parking in our street then catching the tube to work though highly unlikely. So another £55 chalked up to the racket that you run. Add that to the £40 already shelled out by us. It is appalling and I write with no realistic hope of getting the money back but with the hope that at least someone in the department with an ounce of human kindness will read it and see that something needs to be done about this daylight robbery that causes such misery.

Why on earth would you need to regulate parking on December 29 except as a money making exercise?

Barnet Bank Holiday

I was up and out fairly early this morning even though it was a bank holiday. And what should I see on the pretty deserted Finchley Road but a traffic warden booking cars parked on the single yellow line there. I pay £40 a year for the privilege of simply parking on my street. They (or was that tfL) also had £40 off me when one bank holiday I strayed into a bus lane. I have long suspected that Barnet (like others) are mainly interested in making money. Evidence like this only confirms my worst fears.

On their website they say that they do enforce parking restrictions on Bank Holidays but they also say

The council introduces various parking management measures such as parking places and waiting restrictions in order to:
ease congestion caused by inconsiderate parking
help with road safety
assist disabled users of vehicles
provide parking for specific users (such as residents, businesses, or blue badge holders)
increase the turnover of parking to help visitors, clients of businesses, and shoppers to park
provide facilities for loading and unloading

I think it is pretty obvious that none of these purposes were being served in this case.