A major step has been taken towards the development of a controversial parking scheme in Oxfordshire during a meeting where one politician said she was glad another sustainable travel measure had "generated some profit".
County council cabinet member for infrastructure and development, Judy Roberts, agreed with officers' recommendations to approve £500,000 spending on technical aspects of work around the planned workplace parking levy (WPL) on Thursday (July 18) last week.
This comes as the council had allocated funding earlier this year towards development of the WPL, as part of its budget setting in February, which will charge medium to large businesses for staff parking places at their premises.
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There is still uncertainty over who is to be affected by the charge but concerns are being raised that organisations such as schools and hospitals may end up passing the cost on to employees.
Oxfordshire County Council continues to say no concrete decisions have yet been taken on who will be exempt.
Speaking out at the cabinet member for Infrastructure and Development meeting, Ms Roberts said: "In some ways I’m very excited by this because I think there’s huge potential and I also take on board that it is going to be very difficult to get the comms right on this.
"We need to communicate with people as to why we would want to do this and the benefits long-term that it may actually have to the people who are having to pay the money – whether that be businesses or whether they wish to pass it on to their employees."
The Liberal Democrat councillor for North Hinksey emphasised it was important the council "bring the workforce of the city with us" on this.
She added the council didn't yet have funding from the government to go full out with the scheme but the report was a "valuable first step".
This comes after a representative of the Oxfordshire Liveable Streets group, Danny Yee, spoke out in the meeting saying the WPL was "likely to be the most controversial" of a package of three measures being introduced by the council - the other two being the ZEZ (Zero Emission Zone) and traffic filters trial.
Ms Roberts approved the funding for the WPL.
In an item addressing the ZEZ, a council officer said: "The scheme has been running for two years now and it’s generating net income.
"So there is a surplus we are looking to share between the two authorities (county and city)."
Ms Roberts added: "An increase in air quality shows these kind of interventions are moving the playing fields in the right direction.
"I think the figures from the scheme are very promising and I’m glad it has generated some profit – it has actually paid for itself."
A small ZEZ (Zero Emission Zone) pilot area has been in place for nine streets in Oxford since February 2022 but the final rollout will involve most of the city centre and is being spearheaded by Oxfordshire County Council.
The scheme involves charging non-electric vehicles with the aim of improving air quality.
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About the author
Noor is the Local Democracy Reporter for Oxfordshire who covers political stories from across the county.
She began working as a journalist in Oxford in September 2023 having graduated from the University of Oxford.
Noor was trained at the News Associates journalism school and can be found on X through the handle @NoorJQurashi
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