IT was reported last week that Britons are now spending nearly £8bn a year to park their cars, with prices rising by 12 per cent in 2011.

A survey has suggested these rising costs are deterring shoppers from visiting town centres and that 69 per cent of those questioned intentionally avoided shopping areas with high parking prices. As many as 65 per cent said they would return to the high street if parking was more affordable, while 21 per cent believe current parking services do not offer enough space. On September 5, at a meeting of the Ledbury Cluster – an association of those parish councils close to Ledbury - delegates discussed proposals that car parking fees in the town should be increased by order of Herefordshire Council . It was explained that income from just four of the town’s car parks has increased from £118,200 in the year to October 2011 to £159,800 this year and will rise to an anticipated £191,700 in the year to October 2013. It was felt that these charges will simply deter motorists from driving to Ledbury and from patronising the many small shops that provide such an excellent service.

The question of charges is currently up for discussion and consultation but a number of parish councils only meet on a monthly or two monthly cycle, and many will need extra time in order to make proper judgements on important issues like this.

It does seem that while everyone else is having to adjust their expenditure according to current circumstances, the response of local government continues to be to increase its spending and to charge local residents accordingly.

Is there nowhere in the council budget where cost cuts can be found? To insist that a hole in the council’s finances should be filled by simply raising car park fees shows a singular lack of imagination.

Car parks, hospitals and, yes, local councils have all been financed by tax payers and council tax payers, and it just seems wrong that we should face ever rising bills to fill a financial hole that was never our fault in the first place.

MARTIN FIELD The Old School House Burley Gate