Matlock Bath protest ride

[Eric Arthur 10]

where do you get the fifty quid bit from? there will be substantially more than 2000 bikes there by the way

 

Rough estimate of the real cost of a ride out to Matlock, though it's probably nearer a hundred quid for most Sunday bikers.

[Solution 10]

where do you get the fifty quid bit from? there will be substantially more than 2000 bikes there by the way

 

Over 5000 logged as attending so far on the bikermatch website.

Maybe it would be better if the council had a rethink. A two hours Max at a pound a chuck is a good revenue earner, but its gonna pee a lot of riders off. Doesn't seem a lot, but count the numbers.

And the pay and display system is gonna be fun on a windy day!!

[olilew 11]

Rough estimate of the real cost of a ride out to Matlock, though it's probably nearer a hundred quid for most Sunday bikers.

 

Well going on your figures just look at what the local economy is going to lose!

[Eric Arthur 10]

Well going on your figures just look at what the local economy is going to lose!

 

That's the cost of running the bike out to Matlock, not the three quid for a cup of tea and a bag of chips.

 

I think Matlock Bath will have just as many bikers when they bring in the charge, and it will double the amount most of them spend when they get there.

[olilew 11]

That's the cost of running the bike out to Matlock, not the three quid for a cup of tea and a bag of chips.

 

I think Matlock Bath will have just as many bikers when they bring in the charge, and it will double the amount most of them spend when they get there.

 

Well it costs me about 8 quid to run my bike to Matlock and back, I can't see where you get 50 or a 100 quid from but for me and lots of others like me I never have and have no intention of paying to park my bike anywhere. That is the issue for me. I would go somewhere else where I can park for free. That is the point of not going in the car. If I took my car to Matlock and pay the 50p I am using up a space where 5 bikes could have parked, each one paying 50p so the council gets 5 times the revenue for the same space so the bikers are getting skanked! That is my issue.

[Waldo 96]

Well it costs me about 8 quid to run my bike to Matlock and back, I can't see where you get 50 or a 100 quid from but for me and lots of others like me I never have and have no intention of paying to park my bike anywhere. That is the issue for me. I would go somewhere else where I can park for free. That is the point of not going in the car. If I took my car to Matlock and pay the 50p I am using up a space where 5 bikes could have parked, each one paying 50p so the council gets 5 times the revenue for the same space so the bikers are getting skanked! That is my issue.

 

Why don't you hold your protest somewhere else? Let businesses and the council feel the impact financially of your collective absence? There has to be other towns in the peaks who would be happy to have your custom...

[olilew 11]

Why don't you hold your protest somewhere else? Let businesses and the council feel the impact financially of your collective absence? There has to be other towns in the peaks who would be happy to have your custom...

 

The absence will follow the protest in due course.

[dvp82 10]

What's the attraction of Matlock Bath to bikers if a very small 50p an hour charge is enough to possibly drive them away. Surely you bikers don't just go because of the free parking.

[Eric Arthur 10]

Well it costs me about 8 quid to run my bike to Matlock and back, I can't see where you get 50 or a 100 quid from but for me and lots of others like me I never have and have no intention of paying to park my bike anywhere. That is the issue for me. I would go somewhere else where I can park for free. That is the point of not going in the car. If I took my car to Matlock and pay the 50p I am using up a space where 5 bikes could have parked, each one paying 50p so the council gets 5 times the revenue for the same space so the bikers are getting skanked! That is my issue.

 

Nah, it doesn't cost you £8 to go from Sheffield to Matlock Bath and back, unless you never bought it, service it, wash it, put oil in it, insure it, tax it, MOT it, buy leathers, gloves, boots or a helmet, or have to buy your missus presents so that you can keep your bike instead of getting that extension she wants.

 

My hundred quid for your round trip is safe, and even if you have found the world's only 15p a mile bike it's only a quid to park it. You won't cut off your nose to spite your face so we'll see you in Matlock Bath this summer with your pound coin and your bag of chips while the spenders come to Bakewell.

[Hesther 10]

The problem is, councils get greedier/needier? and then 50p soon becomes £2 an hour and that really will put people off. Perhaps they believe that a parking fee will attract a more distinguished clientele....

 

As well as the bikers, this will push away families. When we as a family have fish and chips there, it's around £20, then add drinks, and other snacks, plus money spent in the amusements.

 

Many of the businesses in Matlock appear to be barely surviving now. We'll often call at Matlock on our way back from Derbyshire and the Peaks precisely because we can park the car up for free, stretch our legs, get something to eat and drink, and give the kids half an hour or so in the amusements. Having to pay to park will make it a less attractive option. Surely, adding parking charges is not the answer.

 

The illuminations are a good way of extending the season and look very nice.

Edited February 16, 2016 by Hesther

[onewheeldave 22]

Have we reached the point where councils are doing way more harm than good? Is it time we scrapped them and replaced them with some kind of governance that isn't corrupt to the core? Can anarchy be as bad as the current system of legalised leeches?

 

Bikers, more than any other motorist group, have a love of freedom and a deep lack of respect for the kind of pseudo-authority evident amongst our current governance.

 

I'm not surprised they object to this parking charge- I wish them and the matlock business community luck in fighting it.

Edited February 16, 2016 by onewheeldave

[GhostRiders 15]

I'll be going (as I hope will a few of the Ghost Riders)

 

The issue, as I understand it is that a certain individual has been lobbying the council to try to recreate Matlock Bath as a spa town tourist attraction.

 

This has inevitably meant that many of the local businesses are going to lose out, or even close altogether (one business owner told me that they had been made an offer by individual to buy their shop which they had refused) and that is the reason the local business community is behind the protest ride.

 

I've heard anecdotally as well that since this individual's proposal that police checks in and out of Matlock Bath on bikes have reached bullying point which is putting many people off going.

 

Depends what you believe, I'm doubtful that one individual has that much clout but if it's true (and being impartial) would investment in making it a spa town produce more revenue for (new) businesses and what happens to those who lose their current businesses in this grand plan?

 

At the end of the day, let's be honest, most of the shops in Matlock Bath sell tat, but that tat is someone's livelihood and possibly life, and that's why I'm supporting the ride.