I WAS very upset to read in the Times of the proposal by the Tavistock Chamber of Commerce to instigate on-street parking charges.

The chamber questionnaire did not seek or portray the views of all the people of Tavistock, not the shoppers or people who work in the town, only those of a limited number of shop keepers.

If people are overstaying their parking times this should indicate that the times are too short and restrictive.

There is a distinct lack of long-term parking in Tavistock; the only car parks which cater for more than three hours are Bedford, Abbey and Riverside. The first two are very expensive for all day and this is why so many people park in the residential roads around Tavistock. Perhaps if these car parks were to charge £2 a day, more people would use them for longer term parking.

I am disabled and have a blue badge. As I work three full days for a local charity I try to park in a disabled bay (which has unlimited parking) in the town centre as I find the three larger car parks too far for me to walk comfortably.

Often these bays are full, with lorries unloading goods for the shops or builder's vans parked in them all day. Are the disabled bays to be charged and restricted time-wise as well?

Tavistock and the surrounding areas have a lot of elderly residents and disabled people who shop here who need to use cars because of the lack of public transport.

Surely the ability to park free in the town centre is one of the few attractions Tavistock has over larger town centre shopping malls such as in Plymouth. If we start charging, more people will choose to do their shopping where they can get free car parking at the out of town supermarkets, and where they don't have to carry heavy shopping very far.

M C Wilton

123 Old Exeter Road

Tavistock