Photo credit: Andrea Ferrante
If you work in Nottingham then you no doubt already know about the city’s new work parking charge scheme, but for the rest of us it remains something which could happen near us in the future.
It is the first such scheme in the UK which has been imposed by the local council and it is expected to rake in £8 million in its first year of operation. The idea, according to Nottingham City Council, is to raise money for some serious improvements to the area’s public transport links. Among the plans for the money are changes to the rail station, bus service and tram service.
A spokesperson for the AA called it a “tax on work” which will do harm to both employees and businesses. So what’s it all about?
The correct name for the workplace parking charge is a Workplace Parking Levy, which we might even shorten to WPL to make it easier to type. The WPL applies to companies in Nottingham which have more than 10 spaces for their employees. They need to pay £288 for each parking space. Firms with less than 10 spaces – and emergency services – need to get registered but don’t need to pay the charge.
Ease the Traffic Congestion?
Head of Transport and Planning at Nottingham City Council is Councillor Jane Urquhart. She said that the WPL will give the city a “vital funding stream”. She also suggested that the scheme would help manage the city’s traffic congestion problem too.
The AA view on things was given by President Edmund King, who pointed out that drivers who are paying record fuel prices don’t want to be hit which this additional charge as well. He called it a “damaging tax” and said that it should definitely be “stopped from spreading elsewhere.”
Meanwhile, Professor Stephen Glaister of the RAC Foundation pointed out that it is the workers who travel to the city who make Nottingham “the prosperous place it is “.
