Further to letters and the article "What price for a car-free city?" (The Argus, May 27), park-and-ride is not the panacea for the problems of the city's retailers.

Parking is not the main problem. In fact, retailers across the UK are suffering because of worsening economic conditions and the rise of stores such as Tesco, which account for an ever-increasing proportion of food and non-food shopping. Planning laws and local councils, including our own, have helped this happen.

The answer is to shop locally, not park-and-ride, which just shifts traffic.

What if the park-and-ride is built, the countryside tarmaced over and trading conditions still don't improve? Too late then to lament more ruined countryside, more pollution and more cars.

Some studies suggest park-and-ride increases traffic by making motoring more attractive. A report by the University of London in 1999 found overall vehicle mileage increased in some cities once the distance travelled by buses was taken into account. Government figures suggest 28 per cent of users had been lured from other public transport services - which is neither "sustainable" nor "integrated."

Brighton and Hove is unlike other cities. Here, bus use has been increasing every year for a decade. While it used to be thought the car generated wealth, it is increasingly clear the provision of a good-quality pedestrian environment is what really boosts the local economy. Retailers should take a closer look at Venice or Copenhagen, even London's Oxford Street.

Did a council spokesperson really say without park-and-ride "we would have to start bulldozing buildings to create wider roads and build car parks, which would then fill up, requiring more demolition"? This sounds like the worst sort of Sixties town planning mentality.

Let's keep Brighton and Hove unique.

-Stephen Young, Hove