Drivers will be charged to enter Edinburgh and there will be a workplace parking levy on some of the biggest companies in Scotland’s capital if the Scottish National Party is re-elected to run Edinburgh City Council next month.

The Herald reports that in a key local election pledge, the party wants to charge commuting drivers entering the city boundary at peak times to cut traffic and encourage more workers to enter Edinburgh on public transport.

Separate plans for a workplace parking levy would see 200 firms with more than 50 spaces be charged around £500 a year per space, with exemptions for hospital and medical facilities – amounting to a £2 per working day charge per space.

The report says opponents have criticised the plans as a “double whammy for workers” – with concern the strategy could be rolled out in some of Scotland’s other big cities such as Glasgow amid pledges to cut traffic and achieve net zero aims.

In 2005, Edinburgh residents voted in a referendum to reject plans for a congestion zone.

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