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A controversial plan to charge Cardiff employees for staff parking, has been highlighted by a former high-profile radio DJ with BBC Cymru Wales (BBC CW) (where our Editor, Welshman Phil Parry worked for 23 years), declaring that it “undermines the whole economic argument for moving from Llandaff“.
Mike Flynn hosted a daily show on BBC CW Radio Wales (RW) from its launch in 1978 and stayed with the station until 1989, but he was equally well-known for his love of aviation, and his light aircraft were a familiar sight at Cardiff Airport (CA).
He told The Eye: “Cardiff Council has proposed a new workplace parking levy that could charge larger businesses around £750 per year for each employee parking space they provide. The plan aims to raise money for public transport projects, leaving major employers like the BBC facing potentially large bills. This undermines the whole economic argument for moving from Llandaff”.
But Mr Flynn is not alone in his concern.
The AA said the levy may be viewed as bad for business, Luke Bosdet from the organisation said it could be seen as “a tax on workers”, while others fear it could drive firms out of the city altogether.
“City centre workers are some of the most regular and best consumers and customers feeding money into shops and services, at a time when town and city centres are seeing lower footfall and spending”, Mr Bosdet said.
“Undermining that source of income, because the workers are having to fork out more of their money on travel and parking means they’ll have less to spend in shops – it’s not very clever.”
Apparently endorsing this view is Julie Keeler who has run an engineering firm in the capital for 35 years.
She believes the proposal could put additional pressure on businesses. “It’s crippling them – I think it will force them out”, she announced.
Ms Keeler said she had decided to close her firm and retire because of the costs being piled on to businesses.
“We’ve had to lay off 25 people this year because of petrol, and [parking] zones – it’s not worth taking the job.
“You can’t put your prices up in this day and age – we’ve run it for 35 years, there’s no point”.
Engineer Paul Thornton too wonders whether a parking levy may force larger employers out of the city, impacting the economy.
“The cost to the employers – it’s a bit of a stealth tax on businesses, what does that mean long term? Does that mean they’ll move out of Cardiff, it could be counterproductive”, he proclaimed.
Staff parking was “essential”, he said, adding it was “not always easy to catch public services”.
“It’s an additional cost, when they’re bringing a benefit to the city.
“The employees who work in the city obviously spend their money on local services.”
The council said it expected the levy to raise somewhere in the region of £10 million per year, depending on discounts and exemptions, with an estimated set-up cost of between £3 million and £5 million.
A Workplace Levy (WPL) is currently in operation in Nottingham, where the cost per workplace parking space is £592 per year for employers who provide 11 or more liable places.
Bristol and Oxford have also outlined plans to introduce it.
Cardiff City Council (CCC) said the £750 figure was “subject to change”.
What is unlikely to change, however, is the hostility to this levy, or Mr Flynn’s unsettling view.
Phil’s memories of his extraordinary award-winning career in journalism (including stories which involved traffic) as he was gripped by the incurable disabling condition Hereditary Spastic Paraplegia (HSP), have been released in a major book ‘A GOOD STORY’. Order it now!
Tomorrow – For Phil (as with ALL journalists), it is important to know that in any story the writing is original, and not written by Artificial Intelligence (AI), and now, thankfully, comes news of systems today which can SPOT what comes from a machine!
