Coach parks
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Westminster parked at Vauxhall Bridge Foot on a "joint ticket" arrangement costing 50p per coach, shared equally by the car park owners and the Abbey authorities, was not satisfactory. Although the police held that a coach could get from the Abbey to Vauxhall in about four minutes, the drivers found this to be a gross underestimate at times. To expect drivers to go to Vauxhall — where there are no toilet or refreshment facilities — and return to the picking-up point on the Embankment in the space of half an hour was unrealistic.
In practice the drivers found that even if they attempted to go to Vauxhall car park it was frequently occupied, partly by cars, so that they had no choice — if they were to keep to schedule and return in time to meet their parties — but to circulate around the streets close to the Abbey.
Protest at NCP fee
The GLC Coach Parking Group has proposed that coaches should have exclusive use of part of a car park in John Islip Street, belonging to Westminster Hospital but operated by National Car Parks Ltd. This park would be adequate for 30 or 35 coaches and would go some way to meet the problem but at a group sub-committee meeting on January 27 there was much contention when the representative of National Car Parks said that the annual charge for coach parking facilities would be £12,500, payable on a 12-weekly basis, in advance.
Mr B. W. Davis, of PVOA, and Mr Stevens protested vigorously at the NCP proposal. Mr Stevens says that the charge would work out at least at £1.50 per visit to the Abbey — the Abbey authorities said on January 27 that it would be necessary to
increase the present fee for setting down in the Sanctuary to 50p. A DoE spokesman at the meeting said that some 1100 coaches a year visited the Abbey and, if a charge of £1.75 per coach was made for the combined facilities, it represented approximately a charge of 4p per passenger, surely not excessive in the circumstances?
Mr Stevens was not impressed. He immediately got in touch with a number of coach operators concerned so that he could continue to argue informedly at future meetings. The replies from representative firms suggest that Mr Stevens's battle on behalf of his members, and their employing firms, is appreciated.
Being taken for a ride Mr R. P. J. Churchman, director of Guards of London, told Mr Stevens that he considered coach operators were being "taken for a ride". The introduction of the 50p charge at the Abbey was "an imposition". "It is had enough having to pay this 'tax', but to have it introduced in the middle of the season and then find that you are just subscribing to Abbey funds makes me extremely cross. Because, after all, what are we getting for our 50p — parking that is not guaranteed and virtually no pick-up point".
Of the John Islip Street parking proposal, Mr Churchman agreed that this was a little better, "but as for the NCP wanting a guaranteed income — wouldn't we all?" He could not see how such a charge could be justified.
Authorities not co-operative
Mr T. McCarthy, traffic manager of Whyte's (Edgware) Ltd, told Mr Stevens that he could not express his. feelings strongly enough about the proposed charges at Westminster Abbey. He offered to provide a coach free of charge "to convey members of the GLC and the Westminster Council on a morning or afternoon London tour so that they may experience at first hand the problems involved and lack of co-operation by the authorities. These conditions have to ,be experienced twice daily by the drivers".
Mr McCarthy stressed that total daily charges for tourist coaches "Royal Park permit 50p (I also understand that this may be increased to £1 to include the Guard change), £1.50 for parking at Westminster Abbey plus 50p set down fee, Tower of London 30p and St Paul's 10p making a total of £2.90" was far in excess of what should be charged.
Mr R. G. Ebdon, of Ebdon's Coaches Sidcup, strongly opposed "this outrageous suggestion to raise the parking fee at the Abbey to £1.50. What other organization would be allowed to increase its entrance fee by 150 per cent at one go? I hope you have success with your committee over this point of parking fees."
Mr Stevens knows that the London parking problem is duplicated at Windsor, Stratford upon Avon, and elsewhere. Some employers, he say's, expect drivers to finance parking charges and there have been instances of drivers paying parking fees and not finding room in car parks. "Employers think the driver is fiddling if he incurs two parking charges. If employers don't want to give drivers an adequate advance in cash to meet all likely parking fees a ticket-only system arranged in advance should be introduced."
We are now well into the Jumbo Jet era and future tourism problems could well make present difficulties seem puny. Decisive action by politicians and planners, who should not hesitate to make certain streets reserved parking areas for coaches, would continue to bring into Britain the precious foreign currency we need.