Nottingham City Council is to consult over its proposals to introduce a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) to raise new funds for local transport improvements and reduce congestion.

If introduced, a WPL would see around 500 large employers paying an initial annual fee of £185 for each of its parking spaces. This would raise up to £12m a year which would contribute towards the expansion of Nottingham’s highly successful tram system, improvements to the train station and better bus services.

The move comes as a report by East Midlands Development Agency counts the cost of congestion to the region’s businesses over £900m a year, and as the Department for Transport confirm a Public Inquiry is to be held into the expansion of the NET system this autumn.

Nottingham City Council has an excellent track record on tackling congestion, with an acclaimed Local Transport Plan which has seen traffic growth held steady in recent years – against national upward trends. Public transport use has grown by 8% over the last five years, higher than any of the core cities, with around 125,000 people using buses, trams, trains, bikes and their feet to commute every day. But the authority wants to build on this success to ensure a positive future for the city. Among the most significant proposals is the expansion of NET, with the Government having agreed in principle to fund around 75% of the costs. The remaining cost must be found locally and WPL is proposed as one part of a cocktail of funding sources.

Council Leader Councillor Jon Collins said: "The best way to ensure Nottingham's economic vitality, protect our environment and reduce the growth of congestion is to keep on improving public transport.  We are launching this consultation because we are ready to consider using a Workplace Parking Levy to raise funds to pay for NET Phase Two as well as even better bus services and improvements to the train station.  It needs to be easier and easier to choose to use public transport.   

“No locally raised funding means no more trams, simple as that.  A Workplace Parking Levy is a possible way of raising sufficient funds locally so to provide the public transport needed to reduce the growth of congestion. We need to understand the views and opinions of individuals and a wide range of organisations before Councillors give the issue more consideration in October."

Public consultation will get underway today (17th July) and last for 12 weeks. The consultation will include a formal Public Examination to be held early in October. At the end of the Public Examination the independent Chair will produce a report on his findings to be considered alongside analysis of the consultation results.

For more information on the proposals, click here