New car tax changes which would have seen drivers slapped with a hefty £650 charge for parking their car at work have been axed by councillors.
Edinburgh City Council’s transport committee voted 6-5 in favour of rejecting plans for a Workplace Parking Levy in the Scottish capital.
The concept was first outlined back in 2018 but lawmakers refused to go ahead with the project after raising a series of concerns.
These included the potential impact on low-paid workers who would be hit with the charge and worries over increased parking in many residential areas.
Liberal Democrat group leader Kevin Lang pointed out that workplace charges could be “easily” dodged by stopping vehicles outside houses.
Displacing large volumes of traffic from city centre car parks to residential streets would likely cause a headache among locals.
He said: “People can, in many parts of Edinburgh, very very easily avoid paying any charge at all simply by parking on a residential street.
“What about those areas around big retail centres, where you could see very substantial commuter parking being shifted into residential areas?”
He also pointed out a lack of public transport services which could impact how locals get around the city.
Kevin added: “The other issue is we have absolutely no guarantee here of any new bus services from this.
“In many parts of Edinburgh, you still do not have proper transport connectivity.
“If you live at Kirkliston and work at Hermiston Gait there is no direct bus service. If you live in East Craigs and work at Craigleith retail park there is no direct bus service.”
Meanwhile, transport convener Scott Arthur suggested that the scheme may not actually have any impact in reducing car use at all.
A new Workplace Parking Ley charges businesses for the right to offer parking bays to their staff.
It is thought the idea could have brought in up to £12 million a year in extra revenue across Edinburgh.
This would be based on an annual levy of around £650 per space provided to a worker. However, it would be at the discretion of the company as to whether they decided to pass these fees on to workers.
Many smaller firms would likely have taken the option leaving motorists forced to pit their hands in their pockets amid the cost of living crisis.
The Green Party and the SNP are believed to have backed the project and wanted to look into how to make a Workplace Parking scheme feasible.
Green Party councillor Julie Bandel added: “We keep complaining we don’t have any money and then we reject £10-12m of potential revenue.”
