Hunts park-and-ride hard to justify

THE car parking problems in Huntingdon are not new (Letters, March 4) and Conservative county, district and town councillors have been working and consulting with residents over a long period of time. Nobody believes that there is an easy solution. We ar

THE car parking problems in Huntingdon are not new (Letters, March 4) and Conservative county, district and town councillors have been working and consulting with residents over a long period of time. Nobody believes that there is an easy solution.

We are particularly concerned about the parking congestion in and around Avenue Road. Councillor Colin Hyams and I had a meeting with local police and requested action on this around a month ago.

I am pleased to say that police action has been taken and some easement is now occurring. We have also proposed a residents' parking scheme at county council, which we know has considerable local support.

The truth of the matter is that most areas in and around the town centre were not built to take the number of cars that are now on the road. We will continue to pursue the idea of residents' parking in and around Avenue Road, thus making life easier for all who live in the area.

The question of park-and-ride was initially advocated by me from Hartford, but after careful consideration and costing we believed the cost would be too great for Huntingdonshire taxpayers to bear, especially in these extremely trying times.

I do not necessarily believe that a park-and-ride system is bad, but I would find it very hard to justify the expense, besides which there will be many changes coming to Huntingdon as a result of the A14 improvements.

JEFF DUTTON

Huntingdonshire District and

Cambridgeshire County Councillor