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This thead smacks of "I hate Labour", similarly recent posts on the Khan thread, for some of you.

I phoned them up a year or so ago, a coach was idling outside school, they helpfully had their number on the board by the entrance, and they took immediate action. Please go direct to the responsible organisation, rather than resort to social media in the first instance.

Because some in the medical profession consider it is. This recent study published in the Lancet concludes that the link is not confirmed and that more work needs to be done: https://www.thelancet.com/journals/lanplh/article/PIIS2542-5196(24)00279-1/fulltext And the coroner in a landmark, and sad case, included poor air quality as a cause of death: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/feb/10/ellas-law-rosamund-kissi-debrah-air-pollution-death-london

Here’s the email address recommended from Alleyn’s website. I would cc. your local councillors also.

That beacon of socialism and notorious envier of home owners - the USA - has a property tax. Generally an annual charge based on the fair market value of your house.

Are the coaches in some way licensed by the council and paying to park there? What on earth was he on about?

I just thought it would be useful to remind everyone how this thread started. The OP made a very valid point. But instead of looking at why maybe more cyclists are taking risks by not having lights and in addition choosing not to increase their visibility with hi-viz, some posters separated out the points in the statement, dismissing the no lights issue ('illegal so no discussion necessary') and instead highlighted and focused solely on the hi-viz clothing aspect, some also choosing to mock to undermine, thereby deflecting from the original statement which made sense to many of us; as one poster put it- just common sense.

Complain to the school and the council environmental / health team. As they're commercial vehicles you can also report them to the Driver and Vehicle Standards Agency (DVSA): https://www.gov.uk/government/organisations/driver-and-vehicle-standards-agency It's a common problem - one driver a little while ago said "oh it's OK, the pollution just blows away". Those coaches have been an absolute bane of the area for years - yes I get that it stops a thousand cars or whatever but they're a law unto themselves. And the school won't even consider options like having a pull-in on their land to get them off the road and they don't seem bothered about enforcing the No Idling signs.

Just had fun on RightMoves - luckily everything on my street is sub £2mm so if the valuation method is recent trading multiples then we'll all be OK...for now. The new tax law might create an artificial resistance point at the £2mm level where natural inflation will not bring a certain population of houses over the threshold. If I had unlimited funds this place would be AMAZING!! https://www.rightmove.co.uk/properties/162706352?utm_campaign=property-details&utm_content=buying&utm_medium=sharing&utm_source=copytoclipboard#/&channel=RES_BUY Total 1-off that obvs pre-dates the other houses around it.

There was an interesting chat about this on the budget The Rest Is Politics and they highlighted a challenge that taxation levels are now getting to Scandinavian levels yet our public services are nowhere near as good as theirs and the government is pouring money in to, for example, the NHS but people aren't seeing the improvement as (the politically dreaded) productivity is actually going down. They cited 20% to 30% more investments in nurses etc yet productivity is at around 7.8%. This is a big challenge for the government because if people don't feel the difference or feel they are getting good value for money they will turn on them very quickly.

Two coaches parked in Townley Road with engines running, drivers standing around drinking hot drinks, pupils playing hockey on nearby pitch. Driver asked why I was taking pictures and I explained about air quality, near a school, the Mums For Lungs organisation. He explained that if they turned off the engines they'd "have to wait for the air to fill up again". I'm afraid I laughed at this and said that was nonsense. He told me he hoped I get run over. I can't attach the clip but can share the reg numbers. If there's anyone who can tell me how to escalate this and share the footage?

It is factually wrong but very typical of your posts. There are plenty of examples of me supporting public realm improvements and local road safety measures throughout the many years of this on-going debate....I just think you're choosing to ignore them because you think it legitimises your attacks. You're wrong. Very wrong (and not for the first time). As I say, I am not the one acting in a troll-like manner here. Go take a look - I will await your apology. Absolutely 100% this. @march46 no-one has ever claimed that high-vis is the solution on this forum (I am not sure how some are getting to this conclusion but I think it is another case of putting words in people's mouths to suit their own personal narrative) but clearly high-vis certainly helps to be seen - I mean that's just commonsense. Granted, no amount of high-vis is going to help with a driver with their head in their phone and they are a scourge of our roads and I hate it if I see people doing this and glad that you were ok @march46. As far as I am concerned it should be a long driving ban for anyone caught using their phone whilst driving.

Certainly the threshold won't be increased, but, additionally, once the position is accepted that central government can impose a rental, for no return, on property you might expect it to be widened. Remember Council tax, also a tax on property, is in exchange for the services we get from our local council, but this property tax is in exchange for nothing. Indeed those hit by this tax are amongst the relatively few people, in general, who are net contributers to national income, as opposed to net benefitters.

The new tax will go up annually by the rate of CPI which is a lot more than 2.6% under this government. but the threshold is not going to be increased by inflation. So soon enough a lot more of you people will be living in mansions that are subject to this tax.

So much bitterness is being aired here towards people who own their own house Sad

For folks who are trapped in £2M houses that they just simply can't move away from and see themselves as asset rich but cash poor as they bought it for a small fraction of the current value back in the 80's or whenever, how about this: House inflation in the UK is currently 2.6% pa* - that equates to £52,000 per year gain on the asset. Don't worry at all about the money you've earned to date by just simply living in your own house, but from this point you could realise (borrow against) that whopping £52,000 a year that the property is going up by, and cover this new tax amply. *yes I'm aware London is dragging compared to national figures here, but family homes in London are outperforming smaller properties, and that has certainly not always been the case.

Chris Essex-Hill on Crystal Palace Road is a Mac Specialist. I've used him a few times and he was very good. Strongly recommended. His phone is 07956 288958. EKW

Thank you, Malumbu. I was going to say something similar, but I didn't have the figures.

No no no and no again. Pay per mile will hopefully be brought in for all vehicles. Governments will continue to decide whether we raise revenue (general taxation) from road vehicles. Similar to the way we raise money from CGT, inheritance tax, fags and booze. The last few governments have sadly overseen a reduction in the revenue from motorised transport due to freezing, and then a (supposedly temporary) reduction in fuel duty. That is 2.4 billion less to spend on hospitals, schools, or whatever. If you want a low tax, low public service, economy, then you should not live in Western Europe - apart from the odd tax haven although you'd need to sell your £2million house to afford to do this. And that will buy you a shed in Guernsey. Fuel prices are loosely similar across Europe. The exchange rate is an important factor. Fuel was around 28 p a litre in 1980 (after the Tory government, yes the Tories, added 10% in the budget, yes 10%), that is about £130 a litre nowadays, although the price of crude is the main factor which has been volatile in the last twenty years. A pint of beer should be around £2.30 a pint in London based on 1980 prices. It isn't.

I think there must have been some changes there. I've always found the reception staff very friendly and helpful, with the exception of one person who I thought had left some time ago. But I've just spoken to someone who sounded very bored, interrupted me and spoke over me as I was trying to ask a question, and was really quite the opposite of helpful. Not great when you are feeling ill. I wonder what training they get, if any.

I last visited Amsterdam over 20 years ago. I made the mistake of walking into the cycle lanes a few times without looking. The cyclists alerted me to my mistake. Id didn't blame them, or the Dutch government. It was my own fault. I'm not sure hi vis would have made things any better. This was me not being used to the cycle infrastructure. As great as the Netherlands is for bikes, Denmark takes it further. All credit to both countries.