This new law started on April 1 and the charge will be collected by the city council and although the first figures were less than expected the scheme will eventually meet its targets. There are 45,500 parking spaces and these are spread over 3,000 business premises. It is thought that out of these spaces 28,000 will be chargeable, which is less than was originally estimated. The remaining parking spaces are not eligible for this new charge.
This new charge will last for 23 years and the council have estimated that it will bring in around £14m each year that it is running. However business owners are not happy about these charges and many fear that having to pay out more in expenses will hit them hard. As a result a lot of businesses are considering moving their premises in order to avoid the charge, and then renting spaces privately through sites like YourParkingSpace:
http://www.yourparkingspace.co.uk/
The council have been accused of using a disproportionate levy and Graham Page, a manager at a servicing centre in the city was quoted as saying “It’s like having a 20% hike in business rates – so if you can imagine having to take that cost with no benefit.”
The local council have said that charging for these spaces was fair and that this will help to improve public transport in the area, but not everyone is convinced. Only time will tell how this new charge will impact on the economy of Nottingham but business owners are not happy.
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YourParkingSpace is the leading parking space marketplace, where you can rent out private driveways, off-street parking spaces and garages.
