SO the town clerk and town councillors think there is sufficient parking already in Tavistock. No doubt they use the allocated parking spaces next to the council offices. If they lived in Bannawell Street, Watts Road or surrounding roads they certainly would not make such a ridiculous statement. Bannawell Street is constantly blocked by workers/shoppers parking their cars, taking up two spaces in some cases. Heaven help us if we need an emergency vehicle as one would never get through. Instead of employing, no doubt at great expense, firms to carry out surveys on parking problems, a little bit of common sense should prevail. Issue parking permits to people who have to travel to work in Tavistock and charge them a nominal fee of say, £5 per week, and allow them to use the Pixon Lane Car Park. This would have the effect of clearing the congested roads and streets and allowing shoppers to use the existing car parks for a short period of time whilst they go about their business and allowing us, the residents, to park somewhere in the vicinity of where we live. If I didn?t live in this beautiful town I certainly would not visit it to shop, knowing how difficult it is to park. Sheila Fenner [email protected]">[email protected] MANY people seek the street parking in Tavistock for two reasons: closeness to the shops and free parking. They cruise the streets looking for spaces and I have often observed the same car doing the loop down through the main shopping street, around the back by the river several times ? obviously just waiting for a vacant space to appear. This practice just adds to the town?s congestion. Why doesn?t the town become dynamic and introduce a revolutionary new scheme? My proposal is that all the car parks become free parking and that all street parking becomes pay-by-meter. I?m sure the meter fees could be set to match the lost revenue from the car parks, even if the street parking is doubled or tripled in price. Before ridiculing this idea, just think of the impact it could have. All motorists would make a beeline for the car parks and the traffic in the town would be dramatically reduced. Street parking would become easier to find for those who really want to pay and would also be available to those who have invalidity passes. Tavistock could thrive with this scheme and I?m sure more visitors would be attracted to the town shopping area. Jim Tomkins 67 Redmoor Close Tavistock
