It is common for politicians to overstate their case when trying to make a point.

However, Neil Parkin, leader of Adur District Council, has gone way over the top regarding the question of parking in Adur (The Argus, November 26).

Anarchy in Adur? What nonsense.

The Adur district has three tertiary town centres where shopkeepers have struggled to combat the overwhelming competition from the surrounding superstores.

To this end, Adur District Council, as far back as the Eighties, granted an excellent free two-hour parking system thereby encouraging residents to use the local shops.

When Councillor Parkin and his colleagues came into power they decided to dispense with this scheme and charge for parking in all of the car parks within their control. The result was far from anarchy. Shoppers either stayed away or parked in adjacent roads in a silent but effective protest. The car parks are now barely used and trading suffered with only the nearby superstores benefiting.

The main and only parking problem evolved around Shoreham's railway station where commuters parked all day in surrounding roads as opposed to using the station car parks. Everyone agrees this is a problem which should be addressed but not by penalising all three towns in such a heavyhanded fashion.

As for the council emphasising the need for residents to use public transport, we would if there was any to speak of. Unlike neighbouring Brighton and Hove, the Adur district is poorly served with few, if any, bus services, particularly from the north of the district into our town centres.

When pressed on this point, the bus company's representative stated that such services would not be profitable. Therefore, the proposed parking blitz will obviously deter would-be shoppers from using our town centres and they will simply use the superstores where parking is free. A chilling thought for our small shopkeepers.

  • Beryl Ferrers-Guy, Southview Road, Southwick