Staff parking levy could fund city tram network

Mayor of West Yorkshire Tracy Brabin said the region "is ready and waiting for mass transit"

Businesses in Leeds that provide staff with car parking could be charged more than £2,000 per space to help pay for West Yorkshire's proposed tram network.

Leeds City Council is considering a workplace parking levy that would see an annual fee introduced on company parking to help fund public transport improvements.

It is estimated the levy may generate as much as £15m to £25m annually, but businesses said it could drive them out of the city.

A council spokesperson said: "The current level of funding available to us is insufficient to cover our ambitions, and introducing a mechanism such as a workplace parking levy is one funding option which could help generate the revenue needed."

Earlier this year the government agreed to provide £2.5bn to help fund the proposed mass transit system, which is likely to be a tram network, but a local contribution of between 15% and 25% is required.

The £2,080-per-space levy, which could be launched in 2027, would apply to city centre businesses with 10 or more parking spaces, according to the council.

The zone would extend west to Kirkstall viaduct, north to Leeds University and to Hunslet in the south east of the city.

A map of the proposed boundary for the workplace parking levy

Leaders at one city centre business, Parallax, which develops computer software, said they were likely to relocate to a site beyond the parking levy zone if the charge is introduced.

Director Lawrence Dudley said: "When I saw the proposal I was horrified, this is quite clearly just a money grab, this is the kind of thing that will make us move to a business park somewhere where the only option to get there is by car.

"Other businesses will also leave and we'll end up with a city centre that has been hollowed out."

Nottingham is the only other city in the UK with a workplace parking levy, which was introduced in 2012, with businesses charged £500 per parking space.

Nottingham City Council said that since its introduction more than £100m had been raised, which had helped fund a 17km (10.5 mile) extension to the city's tram system.

Richard Blackmore, head of policy at East Midlands Chamber, which represents businesses in the city, said: "I think businesses were sceptical about whether this would be another cost placed onto them, but actually, what we've seen is inward investment off the back of the transport connectivity - a lot of that has been generated from the funds that have come in through the levy."

The first phase of the network will create a tram route between Leeds and Bradford

In Leeds there would be exemptions from the levy, including for hospitals, disabled spaces and workplaces with operational vehicles.

Ben Mallinson, executive principal at Ruth Gorse Academy, which has two sites within the proposed parking levy zone, said he feared educational settings would not be exempt.

"Schools cannot raise additional income to cover the levy, meaning money would be taken directly from pupils' educational provisions," he said.

However, the council said other exemptions may be considered depending on the feedback it received to a consultation on the plans.

There are two proposed tram routes, one from Leeds city centre to Bradford city centre and a second route from St James's Hospital in Leeds to the White Rose Centre via Leeds city centre.

The exact routes are expected to be revealed in the coming months.

Although the planned West Yorkshire tram system would run to Bradford, there is no proposal for a levy in the city.

West Yorkshire Combined Authority, which is overseeing the development of the mass transit system, declined to comment on the proposal.

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