A decision on whether Norfolk County Council staff should be charged to park at work has been put on hold.
Plans to abolish free parking for county council workers, with a daily charge introduced, were due to be discussed at a meeting yesterday, with officers recommending approval.
Those on the highest salaries would have been charged the most, with a discount for the lowest paid.
An officer report said charges were needed because plans to move workers in satellite offices to County Hall would heap more pressure on existing spaces.
But, with trade union Unison protesting about the charges ahead of the council's policy and resources committee and the opposition Conservative leader Cliff Jordan criticising it as an 'extra tax' on council workers, councillors decided not to agree to the principle of charging just yet.
Instead, they agreed to create a time and task panel, made up of councillors and a Unison representative, to assess the capacity at County Hall's car park. The group will report back to the policy and resources committee in November, when a recommendation will be made to full council.
Dan Roper, the council's deputy leader, proposed the group in the wake of 'heat' generated by the plan, but stressed a solution had to be found. He said: 'We will soon be in a position where the ratio of members of staff to parking spaces will be completely out of kilter.'
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