BUSINESSES are braced for an inflation-busting rise in the controversial workplace parking levy.
From Monday, companies in Nottingham will have to pay £334 per car parking space – a £16 per cent rise on the £288 charged for the last 12 months.
The levy is being charged by the city council to raise cash for the new tram lines and redevelopment of Nottingham Station.
But business leaders say the increase is too much for many firms, and their employees, to afford.
George Cowcher, chief executive of the Derbyshire and Notts Chamber of Commerce, said: "The increase in the workplace parking levy is increasing the financial burden on business at a time when firms need every penny to invest in what they are doing to sustain and create more employment in the city.
"From an inward investment point of view, if firms are wanting to create additional employment in the East Midlands or the UK, the last place they will look is Nottingham, because they know it will cost them more here than in Derby, Leicester, Sheffield, Birmingham or other cities to do business and create employment."
Conservative opposition leader Georgina Culley said her group have opposed the introduction of the levy from the start.
She said: "Research by the Derbyshire and Notts Chamber not only shows that businesses are suffering from increased admin cost, but that the other major consequence of the levy is an increase in on-street parking.
"We have seen many cases across the city where displaced workplace parking from businesses and schools has been causing disturbance and serious access and safety concerns.
"Nobody wins with the workplace parking levy, the city council has even had to change the way it charges and polices the policy because it just isn't making enough money as businesses and employees find ways to work around it.
"The council needs to open its eyes to the effect of this parking tax and abolish it now."
A Nottingham City Council spokesman said: "The council doesn't have the power to reduce this increase.
"The Workplace Parking Levy Scheme Order, agreed by the Secretary of State for Transport sets out the prices.
"Any change would need to go through a further process with the Secretary of State and this would therefore cause uncertainty for employers.
"The scheme of fixed increases has been known and widely publicised for some time, giving employers in Nottingham the time to incorporate the costs into their business planning."
