WHILST I am fundamentally opposed to charging for car parks in the Forest, if we do end up with them, can I suggest a simple way to get both shoppers and shopkeepers on side with regard to the proposed charges?

Why not reimburse the first hour charge if shoppers are buying an item in one or more of the shops local to the car parks? This would encourage shoppers to spend money in the shops rather than just window shop. It will also ensure that short stay car park spaces are available for all users.

This was a successful scheme used in Stroud some years ago with a simple tear off strip on the issued parking ticket which could be exchanged by the shopkeepers. If you wanted to reduce the overhead, you could alternatively give a discount on the business rates for the shopkeepers according to the number of vouchers returned.

Can I also ask whether or not disabled people will be charged for parking as this would seem to be discriminatory if so.

– R Hinchliffe, Park Hill, Whitecroft.