New workplace parking charge proposals in Edinburgh have moved a step closer to reality after SNP councillors drew cross-party support for the policy.
In March local authorities were given the powers to introduce a Workplace Parking Levy (WPL) by the Scottish Government.
The council's previous SNP-Labour coalition were edging towards rolling out a WPL, but ex-transport convener Lesley Macinnes said shortly before May's election that proposals would need to be "agreed with the new administration."
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However, it's now likely the levy will be pushed through despite the minority Labour administration dropping support for the measures.
Under the scheme, which has already been introduced by Nottingham City Council, drivers who want to park at work have to pay an annual fee that could amount to hundreds if the bill is not footed by the employer.
It's designed to encourage more people to use public transport and active travel to get to work, with the aim of reducing emissions and congestion on the roads.
One of the key arguments made in favour of the WPL is that tax raised by the scheme - which in Nottingham's case amounted to over £25 million in the first three years - can be reinvested into the city's public transport network.
But critics say it taxes businesses and workers at a time when food prices, fuel costs and energy bills are rising, whilst unfairly burdening people who live long distances from work and have no other means of getting there.
On Thursday (June 30) Councillor Macinnes brought a motion to full council to agree to 'continue exploration with the intention of implementation, of a Workplace Parking Levy.'
She requested for an update to be given to councillors later this year on the work carried out to date on an Edinburgh WPL and 'appropriate options on which workplaces should be considered, what appropriate exemptions might be necessary, how we can encourage employers and workers to shift to sustainable means of travel and how revenues raised can be reserved to directly invest in continued improvements to the transport network.'
With support from the SNP, Greens and Lib Dems - who all committed to considering plans for the levy in their 2022 council manifestos - the motion was passed by 41 votes to 12.
Whilst the Tories abstained from voting, it failed to get the backing of Labour members, despite group leader Cammy Day saying in February he 'remained supportive' of the scheme.
Edinburgh Labour's 2017 council manifesto said a WPL 'will help reduce congestion and air pollution' but no mention of it was made in the programme for the new term.
An addendum tabled by the group on Thursday stated: "Parking is a key part of any transport system, but poorly managing it leads to higher levels of trip generation and congestion."
It added: "The focus of the original motion appears to be taxing (and thereby gentrifying) unwanted behaviours (rather than ending them) and that this is incompatible with Edinburgh’s commitment to tackle the climate emergency and reduce car-kilometres."
Rather than throwing their support behind a WPL, Labour councillors voted in favour of reviewing the 'scale and distribution' of on street and off-street public and private parking in Edinburgh' in the context of the 2030 City Plan.
Councillor Macinnes, SNP transport spokesperson, said: "The Council agreed today, overwhelmingly and on a cross-party basis, to take forward the process of investigating how to implement a Workplace Parking Levy.
"This policy would enable the Council to access crucial funding for key improvements to bus and tram services and upgrades to walking and cycling infrastructure – and it would be paid for by the biggest and wealthiest companies in Edinburgh.
"Labour in Nottingham have run a hugely successful WPL. Labour in Edinburgh supported the idea until the recent election. At the meeting, they moved a wrecking amendment which would have left our proposal toothless, which pretty much amounted to the same as the Tories who voted ‘no action’ as expected.
"Fortunately, the SNP was able to garner support for our position from the other parties in the chamber and this progressive policy to increase funding for transport project passed by a large margin."
Transport convener Scott Arthur said: "The proposal takes no account of the concerns of residents living in communities adjacent to business areas such, as Edinburgh Park and Fairmilehead, where WPL may generate anti-social displacement parking.
"The SNP/Greens have also not addressed the concerns of Trade Unions regarding the impact that their indiscriminate WPL would have on low paid workers working anti-social hours with no access to public transport. Nottingham introduced the UK’s only WPL in 2011, but traffic volume has grown faster there over the past decade than in Edinburgh.
"As Transport Convener I prefer to look to cities like Paris, where the politicians are working with residents to reduce traffic volume by investing in public and active transport. They don’t simply tax unwanted traffic, they provide a sustainable alternative – this plan will result in 70,000 parking spaces being unneeded."
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