![\"Queues](\"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/0_BR310322accident_m32PAG-8.jpg\")
<\/p>\nBristol City Council will launch a public consultation<\/p>\n
Traffic congestion on the M32 travelling into and out of the centre of Bristol(Image: Paul Gillis\/Bristol Live)<\/p>\n
Proposed new charges on workplace parking spaces in Bristol would cost about the \u2018same as a return bus ticket or a little bit more\u2019, according to the city councillor in charge of transport.<\/p>\n
Cllr Ed Plowden said the plans, which the Greens promised to introduce in their 2024 local elections campaign where they became the biggest party in the chamber, were an \u2018elegant solution\u2019 to the problem of employees being encouraged to commute by car<\/a> because they could park at their office for free.<\/p>\n But former transport secretary and ex-Forest of Dean Conservative MP Lord Mark Harper branded it a \u2018terrible idea\u2019 that amounted to a tax on motorists, many of whom had no other simple way of travelling into Bristol than by getting behind the wheel.<\/p>\n Speaking on BBC1 Politics West<\/a> on Sunday, June 21, Cllr Plowden (Green, Windmill Hill) said: \u201cThe car has been at the centre of policy for the last 60 years and it\u2019s been the \u2018solution\u2019 to all our problems.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019ve found that not only in Bristol but in cities across the world that we\u2019re getting congestion and air quality problems, so we have to rebalance priorities.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have a problem that we\u2019re encouraging people to drive into the centre of Bristol<\/a> by people having free parking spaces at their offices.<\/p>\n \u201cSo what we will be doing is putting a levy on those parking spaces.<\/p>\n \u201cIt\u2019s a very elegant solution.<\/p>\n \u201cWe\u2019re going to consult on the options and how big the geographical area is.\u201d<\/p>\n Pressed by host David Garmston how much staff would have to pay to park at work, Cllr Plowden said: \u201cIt could be as little as the same as a return bus trip or it could be a little bit more.\u201d<\/p>\n First West of England<\/a> buses that operate in Bristol don\u2019t currently offer a return ticket. Passengers have to buy a single for each journey which is \u00a32.60. The price for a return journey would cost \u00a35.20.<\/p>\n Lord Harper told the programme: \u201cExtra taxes is a terrible idea.\u201d<\/p>\n Cllr Plowden, chair of Bristol City Council<\/a> transport and connectivity committee, replied: \u201cWe have a situation where people who work in those offices get free parking.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think their cleaners get free parking.<\/p>\n \u201cWe are asking them to chip in and pay about the same as someone coming in by bus.\u201d<\/p>\n The plans are still at an early stage and the local authority will launch a consultation into various options, such as how big the area should cover, how much should be charged and who should be exempt, such as disabled people and school and hospital workers, before potentially introducing the levy in 2028 or early 2029.<\/p>\n Labour<\/a> and the Conservatives<\/a> oppose the idea<\/a> because, although any fees would be paid by employers, they say it is inevitable that these would be passed onto staff, a \u2018tax on workers\u2019.<\/p>\n Previous studies by the council suggested imposing a \u00a320 levy per space per week which would raise nearly \u00a310million a year to be spent improving public transport.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Bristol City Council will launch a public consultation Traffic congestion on the M32 travelling into and out of…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":1046496,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[8818],"tags":[381,3893,748,527,393,45266,4884,14144,528,285,9731,1263,16,15,961],"class_list":["post-1046495","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-bristol","tag-bristol","tag-bristol-city-council","tag-britain","tag-conservative-party","tag-england","tag-firstgroup","tag-great-britain","tag-green-party","tag-labour-party","tag-politics","tag-traffic-travel","tag-transport","tag-uk","tag-united-kingdom","tag-your-money"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@uk\/116803535603616340","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046495","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1046495"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1046495\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1046496"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1046495"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1046495"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/uk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1046495"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}