MT Powell is right about Brighton and Hove City Council's priorities (Letters, May 8).

Labour spent so much time making it harder to get around this town and so much harder trying to find somewhere to park.

The result is a town that's not welcoming to visitors. It also makes life difficult for the tradesmen and delivery drivers we all need.

Many of my friends have voted Conservative for the first time at the recent local elections. They hope it will lead to some common sense policies, recognising the car is an essential part of modern life for many of us.

Reducing the number of controlled parking spaces would be a good start, confining them to where they are really needed.

It would also help if the council stopped converting so many single yellow lines to double yellow lines.

It's almost as though the council's got a department tasked with thinking up ideas to annoy voters. You'd think they'd want to get the people who live and work here on side.

The majority own cars and the majority voted for the one party to realise it's not a sin to own a car. By all means let's design and produce greener cars. And by all means don't put up monstrosities like the King Alfred tin-can towers which are not just ugly but lack anywhere near enough parking spaces.

The alternative is driving more and more of us to shop out of town and take our kids swimming at places like K2 in Crawley and the Triangle in Burgess Hill.

These places make people like me and my family welcome. I'd much rather give my custom to local shops and restaurants, leisure centres and entertainment venues, but Labour has made many people like me reluctant to waste our time in Brighton.

The Tories have been given a chance to prove themselves. My bet is they blow it. My bet is they don't have what it takes to ditch the King Alfred, to get the traffic moving and to shrink the ridiculous parking restrictions. And let's not even get started on things like the seafront bandstand and shelters and the Brighton Centre which Labour neglected for so long.

It's one thing for the Tories to promise to curb council tax rises - and I hope they succeed - but there's no shortage of other problems left by the last administration.

I find myself reluctantly wishing the Tories good luck. Perhaps they truly can listen to the voters.

  • A Wilson, Albion Hill, Brighton