I HAVE been following the articles regarding parking problems at Beeches Green Health Centre and I do sympathise with those unfortunate recipients of parking fines and who were legitimate visitors to the car park there.

Obviously this has arisen due to other drivers who were not there to visit the facilities on the site but instead exploited the free parking there regardless of the inconvenience to the legitimate users of this car park.

It is an unfortunate sad fact of motoring life that motorists, when faced with a choice between a free car park – which may be there primarily for a specific group of people who may be vulnerable – and a fee paying car park, will develop tunnel vision and go for the free car park regardless of consequences to others.

I have lost count of the number of times I have seen high-end cost motor vehicles such as Porsches and Range Rovers being driven presumably by their owners, in circuits round Stroud town centre in an effort to find a free on-road car parking space.

What a waste of valuable time and fuel!

The fact that all-day parking in London Road car park costs in total £2.50 – and Stroud’s car park charges are quite modest compared to other towns in Gloucestershire – is irrelevant!

Therefore, there had to be some system of car parking enforcement in Beeches Green if the legitimate visitors of the site were to have somewhere to park.

However, I would like to propose a possible solution to this problem and that is, Stroud District Council should allow free car parking at all the town centre car parks.

No longer would there be a need for the abuse of car parking at Beeches Green when there would be free parking nearer to town.

Also, think what a boost this could be to the traders in the town centre since visitors would be attracted by free parking.

This would be a truly altruistic and generous gesture – I do hope those words are in the vocabulary of the council– to Stroud which may help to improve the town centre economy in these austere times.

Shops will only continue to stay open if there are customers coming through the doors and that can only be a good thing for Stroud!

Why not trial this for three months say, and come back and see what the results have been for the centre of Stroud?

Huw Niland

Stroud