PARKING charges:

The reality is that our town car parks are council property and as such are required to produce an income to help fund expenditure.

Our current Parking Policy originated in the 90s with Tony Floyd and the current political party now running SW&T.

It was based on getting people out of their cars.

Given that Somerset is the third most sparsely populated county in the UK and many people need their car for work this needs a re-think. (i.e. respect geography and changing work practices).

Current policies do not recognise that Taunton town is a social construct, i.e. its purpose is to get people together to socialise/do business, work, be entertained etc. If people cannot get there (i.e. the lack of a well thought through transport/road system) the town dies.

READ MORE: Parking charges set to rise in Taunton and West Somerset

Shopping is not enough. It is changing fast. We are indeed now getting all sorts of new and different events bringing people into Taunton, though we still have to up the actual number of residents in the town itself.

To accommodate these changes, we need to distinguish between all day visitors and short term visitors. With modern technology this should be possible.

We need to hammer out a ‘political’/ policy direction that deals with the above points. The outgoing administration worked very hard on moving Taunton forward. It is not only about what we provide but how we provide it with more flexibility and choice. (The Transformation Agenda!)

The SW&T chief executive and some councillors realise this but the idea has yet to penetrate rather more widely, both within and without the council. Are we perhaps a little frightened and more than reluctant to be transformed.

What? Change at my age!

D BRADLEY

Kingston St Mary