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Nottingham has become the fi rst UK city to introduce a workplace parking levy. As the city steps into the unknown and at least one other major city considers following suit, Andrew Bennett takes a closer look at the charge
ottingham has a problem it shares with many cities; at peak times traffi c grinds along its major
arteries, costing approximately £160m a year in lost staff hours, with more than half of this burden falling directly onto businesses. Commuters account for an estimated 70 per cent of congested peak traffi c. With major employers in and around the city centre, two popular universities and a couple of sizeable hospitals, gridlock is inevitable. To boost public transport use and discourage car use, Nottingham City Council has acted radically – and controversially. From this month, employers must pay the
Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) – the fi rst of its kind in the UK.
The yearly charge of £288 per parking space (tied to infl ation and the Retail Price Index) is payable by employers providing 11 or more car parking spaces for employees – not customers or visitors – within the city boundaries.
48 APRIL 2012
Benefi ciary… the train line will be revamped thanks to the WPL
Employers choose whether they ask employees to foot the bill. Boots, the best- known city employer, announced that while it will part subsidise the charge, it will pass some of the cost on to its employees. Workers at a Nottingham tobacco factory may go on strike after being asked to contribute to the cost. The city council expects the WPL to raise at least £14m a year for planned public transport improvements: extensions to the tram network; a £67m revamp of the main train station; and bus network enhancements. A city council spokesman says: ‘The two new tram lines alone will serve around 1,800 city workplaces, to which about 55,000 employees commute. The Link bus services, which the WPL will also support, provide 5.5 million passenger journeys a year. ‘For every £1 the levy collects
from employers, Nottingham will get more than £3 from government funding, bringing more than £10m of economic benefi t to local businesses, residents and the economy. ‘Transport improvements are expected to take 2.5 million cars off our roads by 2015. The levy is predicted to reduce traffi c growth from 15 per cent to eight per cent by 2021.’ Other local authorities are watching the Nottingham WPL experience, and much of the local business community remains opposed.
www.britishparking.co.uk
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