Small business owners from across Bristol will stage a ‘victory parade’ tomorrow to celebrate the city council’s decision to abandon its workplace parking tax.
The council had tried to come up with a workable formula under which every firm in Bristol city centre paid a £1 per day levy for each parking space they provided to its workforce. The idea was abandoned at the eleventh hour shortly before a planned protest march organised by the Bristol Federation of Small Business was due to go ahead.
Federation chairman Guy Kingston, pictured, applauded the U-turn. He said: “Widespread resistance from the business community has clearly convinced the city council to think again. This could have cost some bigger firms thousands of pounds per year and would have placed an equally intolerable burden on many smaller businesses.
“This proposal was an unworkable as it was unpopular and was entirely out of kilter with the message that Bristol is open for business.”
The move would have raised up to £27m towards public transport in the city but Tim Kent, the councillor responsible for tran
sport, said fears that Bristol would be viewed as unfriendly to business, as well as issues over administering the scheme, were behind the decision.
He said the council would look at ways of using business rates to raise funds, now available to the city under the Government’s City Deal initiative.
Cllr Kent told the BBC: “One of the key things we’ve said it that it shouldn’t just be the residents and citizens that contribute, it should be business as well.
“We never firmly said we’d go down that route [of a working parking levy] but we’ve always been clear that it was our favoured option at the time. Things have changed and another option has presented itself.”
The FSB stand was backed by the TaxPayers’ Alliance and the Association of British Drivers.
All three organisations had been planning a protest tomorrow over the workplace parking levy.
Mr Kingston said: “We're still going ahead with the action day, which will now be more of a victory parade. I am delighted the council has finally seen sense.
“The FSB has put a great deal of effort into fighting this measure and we have been the only business organisation locally prepared to stick our necks out and stand up for business.
“We want as many people to show up as possible for the parade to demonstrate to the council that although we have forced them to back down on this issue, if it comes up with any other new tax or anti-business scheme, we are ready and willing to oppose it.”
Marchers will be meeting outside the Corn Exchange on Corn Street at 11am and will then parade to the Council House.
However, the decision to scrap the levy will disappoint campaigners for better public transport in the city. In a forthcoming issue of the Bristol Civic Society magazine, Dr Angela Raffle – a consultant in public health in Bristol – will say businesses need to “wise up” to the fact that opposing workplace parking levies simply ensures that rush-hour traffic remains at its present, chronic levels, as workers have no incentive to use alternative options
