Study to look at workplace parking levy
OFFICIALS are to investigate options for putting in place a workplace parking levy in Glasgow.
The council is to spend £75,000 on a study into “developing and implementing” the tax which would see employers charged per parking space they provide in the city.
The policy which was introduced by the Scottish Government to allow councils the power to impose a levy to raise income but also to reduce pollution has been controversial with opponents claiming it is a tax on getting to work.
The plan from Glasgow is to study what other cities have done and to “identify the pros and cons of developing and implementing a Workplace Parking Levy in Glasgow”.
Anna Richardson, convener for sustainability and carbon reduction said, in a report to councillors: “This is only one of a series of measures to improve air quality and create a healthier environment and reduce congestion.”
Other plans for transport in the city include expanding the bike hire scheme with six new locations and dozens of new bikes.
New NextBike stations would be located at Central Station at Oswald St/Argyle Street, at the Renfrew Ferry near the Kingston Bridge, at Round Toll at Garscube Road at Farnell Street, Bath Street at Wellington Street, King Street at Osborne Street and at Carrick Quay at Clyde Street.
The council proposes to spend £155,000 on the sites, bikes and maintenance for the next five years.
Another £220,000 is planned to replace eight of the city’s nine car club vehicles. It would replace low emission cars with zero emission cars. The funding would pay for the cars and install electric vehicle charging points.
The finding could come form a Public Transport Provision grant from the Scottish Government which has allocated £1.15million for projects in Glasgow.
Councillors are being asked this week to approve accepting the funding and for the cash to be allocated to the various projects in the remainder of this financial year, before the end of march.
The decision to allow councils the power to charge a Workplace Parking Levy was approved with support from the SNP and Greens at Holyrood
last year in the Transport
Bill.
The Tories have spoken out against it and Labour leader Richard Leonard, said last year Labour would scrap it, saying the party would instead invest in public transport to provide an incentive to leaving the car at home.
In Glasgow, Conservative councillors are opposed to the move and have said that 55,000 people in the city could be eligible for the charge and said it should not go ahead.
In Nottingham, where a parking levy has already been in place for a number of years, employers are charged £500 a year for every parking space they provide.