Workplace parking charges

Motorists are in the sights of cash-hungry councils once more, it has emerged, as plans to impose a workplace parking levy are being drawn up in a second major city.

Nottingham is scheduled to introduce the controversial charges – that see businesses charged a tax based on the number of parking spaces their sites contain – in April.

Bristol City councillors are now considering whether or not to approve a similar scheme in the Spring, to help generate some or all of the £27 million it needs to fund bus-only lanes on a number of roads – a move it says will cut congestion.

But while it is businesses that are charged under the scheme, most firms affected in Nottingham have made it clear they will pass the cost on to employees who use the parking spaces.

And the Liberal Democrat councillor in charge of Bristol Council’s transport policy, Tim Kent, has made no secret of the fact he thinks motorists should be footing the bill: “I have said I don’t want businesses to pay a penny. I really believe it should be paid by those who benefit from having a free parking space in the city centre.”

Opposition to the plans in Nottingham is intensifying, with several unions voting to hold a strike ballot over plans by Imperial Tobacco – a major employer in the region – to pass the cost of the levy onto its employees.