CONGRATULATIONS to the clever souls that invented the new car parking fees for York because they have single-handedly gifted every resident and visitor with a disbelieving expression.

Charging between 6pm and 9pm is likely to deter those who can avoid coming into town, and bring a scowl to the faces of those who have no choice.

We all understand the need for traffic control at peak times, but are the roads clogged to breaking point after 7pm? Is this the way to grow the businesses or tourism of our fine city?

Not to mention the debacle that is charging 10p after 9pm. City transport engineer Peter Evely would have us believe this isn't about raising money for the council, yet freely admits that once it's established, the people of York can expect the cost to go up, and at short notice.

Now we discover we don't actually have to pay the 10p after 9pm, and that City of York Council will discipline parking attendants who issue tickets to non-paying drivers (for the time being). It would be nice to have a complete list of all the charges we don't actually have to pay.

Perhaps they have a secret wisdom of their own which can explain this apparent insanity or, more likely, this is another mistake of a floundering council unable to control its spending effectively.

Mike Overhill-Smith

Hillcrest Avenue

Nether Poppleton, York.

...SO this spreading expression 24-7, has hit York car parking charges (March 15). We pay through the nose from 8am to 9pm after which a not-to-be-enforced-at-present charge of 10p applies overnight.

But this could go up if the council wants to "respond quickly" to try and kill-off any particular form of business upon which they set their sights in the future.

Let us not be cynical and say the council wants to kill off city centre retail outlets, perhaps on the basis that they have done such a good job so far they may as well drive the rest out to Monks Cross and Clifton Moor.

After all their efforts, many individual retailers have gone leaving exactly the same shops as you can find in any city or significant town centre.

I mean, you wouldn't want York to continue to maintain its own unique central character aside from the historic core, would you?

But it's not really like that. Or is it? The retailers have already opened branches in the free-to-park out-of-town shopping centres. As local people we are now making that choice and staying out of town.

The remainder of us will migrate in that direction following the increased and now evening charges.

Already, only eight per cent of visitors cited shopping as their main reason for visiting York.

So the council is not after retailers? They perhaps see the tourist as the easy target.

But it's not only the tourists who want to use the other day and evening facilities, theatres, theme pubs, churches, health clinics, social services and so on. We should all like to use them and many have no choice.

W McAdam,

The Village,

Haxby,

York.

...AS a regular visitor to York, I have been watching the council's policies on car parking charges with great interest.

The latest discovery that a nominal 10p fee to park overnight has been introduced really shows how out of tune City of York Council is with the interests of the city's traders, council tax payers, workers and visitors.

When Meadowhall Shopping Centre opened in Sheffield in 1990 it had an enormous affect on trade in Sheffield city centre, a situation the city centre is only just beginning to recover from.

The main reason was Meadowhall provided free parking for 12,000 cars.

Thanks to a number of factors, including Supertram and good park and ride facilities, the city centre is now back on its feet. But it has taken more than ten years and I fear a similar situation developing in York with shoppers choosing the out-of-town shopping centres such as Monks Cross instead of venturing into the city itself.

The nominal fee of 10p allows the council to increase the charges as and when they see fit, ensuring York city centre becomes a smaller model of Sheffield city centre in the early 1990s - in practice, a ghost town.

As someone with York's interests close to my heart I hope I am proved wrong.

David L Fairey,

Peterborough Road,

Lodge Moor,

Sheffield.

...I RECENTLY asked Coun Reid to state that future ResPark charge rises would only be in line with inflation, as they always had been under Labour, but she refused to do so.

In light of the 24-hour car park charges she states there were no plans to introduce 24-hour charging, but that the 10p "nominal" charge a night gave "the council maximum flexibility for charging tariffs in the future''.

In light of this statement I ask that Coun Reid pledges to the citizens of York that there will not be an introduction of any further increases, such as hourly raised charges, and that this 10p will be the maximum.

Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing,

Labour spokesperson for planning and transport,

Salisbury Road,

York.

...YOUR correspondent J Barker of Selby bemoans high car parking charges in York.

In fact, the recent increase to daytime charges is broadly in line with inflation.

Mr Barker has the option of using the city's outstandingly successful Park and Ride service or, if he is a frequent visitor in the evening, he will qualify for a "frequent users" evening parking permit.

Presumably his vitriol about tourists conveniently ignores the fact that, as a non-York resident, that is a category he might find himself in?

Ann Reid,

Executive member for planning and transport,

Grassholme, York.

Updated: 12:08 Thursday, March 18, 2004