Westminster Council Turns Down Reagan Statue

According to the Atticus column in yesterday's Sunday Times, Westminster Council has turned down an application to erect a statue of Ronald Reagan outside the US Embassy in Grosvenor Square.

Plans to put a bronze statue of Ronald Reagan outside the American embassy in Grosvenor Square, London, have been rejected. Westminster council says figures must have been dead for 10 years before they qualify for a public monument (although the Americans might have noticed a statue in Parliament Square of Nelson Mandela, who is still very much with us). Perhaps they could put the former US president there too. It would remind our MPs of Reagan’s driving political dictum – that too much government is bad government. They might even add his famous advice to officials: “Don’t just do something, stand there.”

Man Fined For Stopping In Car In Bruton St

The Evening Standard has the story of Nick Tubbs who pulled over and stopped his car on double yellow lines in Bruton St to take a phonecall lasting less than two minutes. He was caught on CCTV and issued with a £120 charge from Westminster Council.

A Westminster spokesman told the Standard that "Drivers are not allowed to wait at this location during controlled hours unless they are loading and unloading, which this motorist was clearly not doing."

The council says Mr Tubbs caused an obstruction to the traffic and they seem to regard stopping as being the same as parking, citing this definition, "The word parking is defined as follows: 'To park, to stop or leave a vehicle in a specific location.'". My own opinion is that it seems a bit harsh, and I would consider a Red Route to be a place where no stopping is allowed, and double yellows to be a place where no parking is allows. Notice that TFL says "stopping" is not allowed on Red Routes. The fact they use the word stopping and not parking would imply to me that they see a difference, although Westminster council consider parking to mean stopping at all.

What do you think? Is Westminster council doing a good job in penalising those that interrupt the good flow of traffic or are they being an unfair an unreasonable? Use the comments box to share your views...

Westminster Unveils "Common Sense" Parking Rules

Westminster City Council has launched a new "common sense" parking initiative. Based on feedback, residents who display a residents parking permit will be given a grace period of 5 minutes when waiting at a single yellow line, in order to unload, load items or pick up and drop off passengers.

If a parking attendant observes that no such activity is taking place after 5 minutes, a penalty notice will be issued.

Councillor Danny Chalkley, Cabinet Member for Economic Development and Transport, said:"These measures are designed to improve motorist's experiences of parking in Westminster. They pass the "Ronseal" test. We will still take a firm line with people who flout the parking laws but we are also ensuring that a common sense approach is used to make parking in Westminster as easy as possible.".

Mayfair Man Fined For Breaching Planning Laws

Westminster City Council has successfully prosecuted a Mayfair homeowner for breaching planning laws during the renovation of his house.

Andrew Cecil of Charles Street was fined £10,000 after historic features were damaged and substantial changes were made to interior walls in the 250 year old, Grade II listed property.

Mr Cecil pleaded guilty, and in mitigation his defence told the court he was a passionate advocate of the conservation of listed buildings.

Westminster City Council was also awarded costs in excess of £6,000.