More local authorities planning workplace parking levy

You are right Barry, it is a real shame. So much of the town's heritage has been lost simply because of some short sighted council decisions.

Rejuvinating the town would be very simple indeed -

Make all the parking free.

Still... I guess that's why I am not in politics!

Hello

I was in Dunstable not long ago and the centre is looking a bit run down with a number of properties closed, so apart from major employers closing we have the spectre of councils using powers to completely wreck the area.

Sad really.

Barry

Looking at my nearest town, Dunstable... I see a once thriving local shopping center that boasted hundreds of small businesses. Some of the shops dated back to before the war.

As parking costs have increased, people have become less and less willing to travel into the town, preferring instead to use the free parking at the nearby retail park.

The real effect of increasing parking charges, expanding their scope and applying these charges to business, is that local centers will die out or become run down as Dunstable has already.

I am not a conspiracy theorist... but I do see a pattern developing here and given the savings that councils will face if businesses relocate to retail parks and they have to spend less on maintaining roads and pavements, must be substancial.

This thread has gone on before and was exactly the same then with everyone in agreement. The point being how can any local authority or even central government justify this when business rates should cover it - let alone the massive taxes already imposed on individual motorists?

If imposed nationally you'll find everyone parked on the surrounding roads and the company car parks empty. This won't stop people driving to work but it will cause mayhem on roads and side streets. This will in turn require more parking restrictions and as clamping may no longer be allowed on private land the clampers will be back in force clamping cars on the highways. This may be the authorities intention in recovering the losses from rate rebates applied for by companies with unused car parks. The driver will get shafted either way and for what? It's pointless except as a money making tool.

I totally agree with you Keith about the need for cheap and frequent public transport. I am lucky because I can walk to work which is really nice way to start and end the working day.
My partner however works 8 miles away and as she doesn't drive she has to take the bus. She has to leave the house 2 hours before her shift starts to stand any chance of getting to work on time and we only live in the suburbs a medium sized town so god help you if you live out in a village! But also on an evening shift unless i drive her she can't get home because the buses have already stopped!
I am totally against the Levy and until public transport is properly sorted out there is no way this will work in the manner that it is intended.

I know someone that works for a local authority whose entire district is free of parking charges in all car parks. However, in the last few months it has implemented parking charges for all staff in it's own office car park, excluding of course the local councillors. If they had to pay then they'd claim it back under expenses. The people that have to pay have the money deducted from salary so they can't not pay. Some people might respond to this by saying thery can leave their cars at home & use public transport. This isn't alwaysw possible as the person I know has to use own car for authority business & now at a reduced mileage rate. There are other areas that I won't go into with regard to how they waste money particularly after announcing redundancies.

Justifiable and non negotiable answer from the 'official' side is its to get us out of those horrible polluting vehicles onto public transport - go green - Its got to be done to save the world - CRC and all that.
Personally I think its yet another 'earner' for them.
I can get to work on public transport - it means an hours journey each way plus two bus changes or 2 buses and a train trip at over an hour - and I live only 6 miles from work which takes me 15/20 minutes to drive and its cheaper to drive as well.
I have to attend meetings in London, peak time ticket is now over £18 return and parking at the station is £8.50 so rounded up lets say £27 and a total of 2.5 hrs travel time. To drive in costs the congestion charge plus metered parking for an hour and fuel. Travel times down to under 2hrs, less depending on traffic and I can listen to whatever I want to, smoke when I want one and not get trampled in the underground or stand all the way in.
If they want you out of your cars they should provide cheap, frequent and suitable services first not charge you for parking at your place of work with the excuse the monies going to pay for the services you need first not last.
Look how much of the 'road' tax gets spent on the roads.
In my case whilst I have a parking space at my main place of work I also have 3 other sites that I have to visit, public transport isnt an option for these sites. So not only will I get charged for parking at work to get me on public transport that I cant realistically use to do my job but I'll still get clobbered for the cost of having to run a vehicle regardless.
I also think they believe the firms will cough up not the employees........
I think I know the answer to that one, at least in most cases.

I work in a public sector organisation which has a lot of parking but, of course, not enough spaces for all employees. At the moment everyone is entitled to park on a first come first served basis - which penalises part time workers or those who have caring responsibilities - predominantly women. If this charge is brought in then it will be passed on to the workforce (there are already discussions ongoing about parking charges but that was to provide income for the organisation so goodness knows how much they will charge us). Public transport is extremely variable, depending on which direction you travel and, if you have to rely on the trains, very expensive.

The people who will suffer in this will continue to be predominantly part time women and those with caring responsibilities and, in addition, those on lower salaries who will not be able to afford that kind of a levy when there will still be no guarantee of an available space.

I wonder if the government have published an equality impact assessment on this decision?

Phil
This started with the last government - Nottingham imposed a parking levy in 2009 - so this lot are just following suit.
I just can't get my head round how they justify it. When the car driver is driven (sorry no pun intended) off the road, what will fill the £billions lost in tax, VAT etc generated from them?

Who is advising these people?????

Yet more cost for those of us lucky enough to still have jobs. This in addition to increased petrol costs, increased VAT, reduced savings interest rates, etc, etc. I may be naiive, but I would have thought that assisting people to work, to spend money and to employ others (where possible) would be the way to regenerate the economy. Instead of that, contracts are cancelled, people cannot afford to spend, and getting to work is more expensive. In my job I cannot use public transport even if I wanted to, so I have to park somewhere. Again I am being penalised for working for a living.

Hello

Phil you beat me to it, if supermarkets are going to have to fund spaces for employees (which they wont) it will not be long before function creep causes all spaces to be paid for.

This could be a major earner for the councils.

Barry

Got a new saying for the CONDEMS "Expect no different".

They are about lining pockets of the already wealthy, and ensuring a stability for big business, if small business and individuals suffer, then so be it, as long as Tesco are ok.

If employers have to pay to let their workforce park, the cost gets passed on to the customers - inflation.
If employees have to pay to park, they will want pay rises to compensate - inflation.
I don't drive nearly 40 miles a day for fun, I had to move further afield to get a job. How am I supposed to get to work each day, there's no direct public transport from my home to work?

Greed!

WOW! This is the first thread I have encountered where everyone agrees...

How come the powers that be screwed up so badly then?

hello

I thought we paid rates for that and what happens where there is no public transport.

Barry

that sounds a great idea, how much are the councils themselfs going to pay or transfer into the kity, i live in Norwich where the county council must have in access of 500 spaces,
As a director of a training company where we have in access of 50 delagates per day thats going to cost me £ 12.500 , what the hell do i pay my rates for , PS just asked my staff how they wanted to pay i cant tell you what they said until after the watershed !!!!!!

I don't know if it’s just me but all this will do is force firms to remove parking facilities for employees and send us back 20years when firms didn't provide parking facilities and the roads around factory’s and warehouses were all blocked up with the cars belonging to workers at a local factory.
Talk about kicking firms when they are down.
Most firms are struggling at present and now we are going to penalize the good firms that think about there neighbours by providing parking for its employees talk about a mad world.
If I owned a company myself I would remove the parking facilities and sell the land off if I am now going to get charged for providing parking for my employees.

Hey what a great idea!

Lets tell the world we rely on on small to mid level companies to get the country out of the mire that has been dug for them.... and then make it even harder for them to get people into work...after all... true tory supporters will have drivers who can go home after dropping them off at work!