Wembley Stadium: North London council to introduce new tourism tax - here's what it could mean for you
The new tourist tax would affect people staying overnight for gigs at Wembley Stadium
A North London council could introduce a new tax on some visitors staying overnight in the borough to help fund improvements to the area.
Wembley Stadium in the borough attracted nearly 3 million people last year, with acts such as Oasis and Coldplay set to perform there this summer as well.
The North London council, Brent Council, said that a levy would turn the high visitor numbers into a vital new source of funding to be used to tackle challenges caused by the area's success as a cultural destination.
A motion to introduce a mandatory visitor levy on hotel and short stay accommodation was proposed at a council meeting on Monday, where it was agreed that the next step would be to seek permission to impose the fee.
Brent Council stated that it was exploring ways of ensuring the benefit of their world-class events would be felt by all residents that fall within the Brent Council area.
The influx of visitors brings economic benefits, with each non-sporting event at Wembley Stadium reportedly boosting the local economy by around £4.35 million.
However, it also has negative impacts on residents, including increased noise, congestion waste and pressure on other council services.
Brent Council's Mary Mitchell said that London boroughs should follow the proven model already in place in cities across the UK, such as Manchester and Edinburgh. She suggested that the money raised could be used to fund street trees, waste enforcement, enhanced cleaning and improvements to parks and green spaces as well.
A tourist tax has been something that Sadiq Khan has previously mentioned, introducing to the whole of London, raising the question, what do Londoners think of that idea? Watch our video above or on Daily Motion to find out what they said.