Parking tax not ruled out (From Basingstoke Gazette)

Parking tax not ruled out

7:30pm Wednesday 12th August 2009 in

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CIVIC chiefs have not ruled out introducing a parking tax for Winchester businesses.

It follows a scheme being introduced in Nottingham where any firm with 10 or more parking spaces will pay £250 a year for each.

But a spokeswoman for Winchester City Council said such an initiative was not something it was currently considering.

The authority joined three others in the region - Test Valley, Rushmoor and Basingstoke and Deane - in pledging to North Hampshire Enterprise (NHE) it had no current plans to introduce such a tax.

Whitehall created the Workplace Parking Levy scheme as a way for local authorities to raise funds to pay for local transport initiatives and reduce the amount of car use by employees.

Mark Froud, chief executive of NHE, said: "I am delighted that the councils across North Hampshire have no current plans to bring in this ludicrous new tax.

"The government has dreamt up a scheme disguised as a legitimate way of raising money to improve public transport services, but it would be yet another slap in the face for hardworking businesses.

"By charging firms simply for having parking spaces there would be serious consequences for employers and their employees.

"Businesses could decide to pass the extra tax on to their employees which could result in recruitment difficulties if staff choose to leave their jobs rather than pay to park at work."