CONTROVERSIAL proposals  to charge staff for parking at  work have been suggested as a  way of cutting congestion and  reducing carbon emissions.

The move could see thousands of workers, who currently enjoy free parking, affected by the charge if it is  introduced in Exeter.

And employees at large city  companies including the Met  Office, EDF Energy  and South  West Water could be on the hit  list.

The proposal is part of a  range of ideas to help the city  reduce its carbon footprint  over the coming years.

Senior officers at Exeter  City Council claim there are  almost 18,000 “free” parking  spaces for workers which  could be levied as a way of  managing congestion.

But they admit the proposals are controversial and have  described them as uncomfortable in a report due to go  before the authority’s executive committee next week.

The document sets out the  city council’s proposed contribution to Devon County  Council’s Local Transport  Plan for 2011-16.

Exeter’s Chamber of Commerce has voiced concerns  about a workplace parking  levy being used to raise revenue.

And businesses in the city  have reacted cautiously to the  proposals, with some saying  they already have measures in  place to encourage workers to  use alternative ways of travelling to work.

But environmental campaigners have thrown their  weight behind the suggestions, claiming that radical  measures are needed to curb  climate change.

In his report, John Rigby,  director of economy and development at the city council,  said: “Uncomfortable though  it is, a pricing mechanism in  the form of a workplace parking levy  is an effective means  of managing demand — and  thus without that  congestion  will continue.”

He told the Echo that parking charges would not be just  another form of taxation and  promised that the revenue  raised would be ploughed back  into improving the city’s public transport.

“The Government has been  encouraging authorities to  look at this as part of a package  of transport measures,” he  said.

“The introduction of workplace charging requires both  the district and county councils to support it and the Government has to approve a  scheme. If approved, it would  be mandatory.”

 He was cautious about the  reactions from employers and  workers,

 He said: “I would be surprised that if they were asked  about paying for parking as  just a form of taxation, many  people would be enthusiastic.

“But if, however, the money  raised was ploughed back into  public transport improvements, public opinion surveys  suggest that significant numbers of people would support  it.”

Derek Phillips, chairman of  Exeter’s Chamber of Commerce, said the move would  have to be part of a much  wider traffic management  programme.

He said: “We have always  said that we would not necessarily be supportive of such  a move but we would want to  know the full implications.

“Traffic management in the  city is important. If this was  part of a package which would  give benefits we would look at  it but we need to know what  benefits there would be if a  workplace parking levy was to  be implemented.

“It should not be introduced  as a revenue raiser though. It  should be part of a scheme to  control congestion in the  city.”

Exeter City Council currently charges its staff between £1 and £1.50 a day to  park at Dix’s Field car park.

A spokesman for the council  said: “Since the introduction  of the Green Travel Plan, there  has been a marked reduction  in the use of the Civic Centre  car park, with more staff travelling to work by bus, train or  bicycle.”

 Helen Chivers, spokesman  for the Met Office  at Sowton,  said: “We have a lot of people  who already car share and we  have buses which run through  the site. We are also close to  the park and ride.

“We encourage people to  use alternative modes of transport — that was one of the  things we set up before we  moved to Exeter.”

A spokesman for EDF, at  Exeter Business Park, Sowton,  said: “We haven’t seen the report so we can’t comment.  EDF Energy has a very good  track record at reducing the  number of cars on the road  and is working towards reducing carbon emissions from  its transport fleet by 20 per  cent by 2012.

 “We have a green travel plan  for Exeter and close to half the  parking spaces at our Gadeon  House office are used by car  sharers. We also encourage  staff to use public transport  and provide incentives for motorbike and bike users.”

 And South West Water, at  Pynes Hill, said it also encouraged its staff to use other  modes of transport other than  driving to work.

Maurice Spurway, of Exeter’s Friends of the Earth and  a founding member of campaign group 2020 Vision Exeter, has given the proposals  his support.

“We need to start doing  some fairly radical things to  stop climate change,” he said.

“2020 Vision Exeter has written  to the members of the city council’s executive committee to suggest that this a very important  report which we wholeheartedly  support.

“What we believe needs to happen is a fairly concerted effort to  engage the whole community in a  vision and action plan to deal  with an interim target of 45 per  cent reduction in CO2 emissions  by 2020.

“We completely support the  suggestion of a workplace parking levy.

 “It would be a downward pressure in using the car to go to work  if you know it’s going to cost  money.

“It might discourage people to  use their car for commuting. Also, it will raise money — we  reckon about £4m a year because  there are quite a lot of those  workplace car parks.”

And Martyn Goss, chairman of  Campaign for Better Transport,  said: “We have been saying for a  long time we need carrots and  sticks to encourage people to not  use cars and dissuade them from  using them inappropriately.”

He said if workplace charging  was implemented, it would need  to be coupled with better public  transport provision.

He  added that the move, if implemented, may be vital for the  city’s economic growth.

He said: “If Exeter wants to  grow economically and bring  more people in, then there needs  to be new ways as capacity on the  roads is extremely limited.”

The proposals will be discussed  at a meeting of the council’s executive committee next Tuesday.