WHO are they, what are they, and where do they come from, these unseen people who are destroying our lovely town? It is all very undemocratic. People have no say in anything any more. They say they ask people s opinions and let them have their say, then d

WHO are they, what are they, and where do they come from, these unseen people who are destroying our lovely town?

It is all very undemocratic. People have no say in anything any more. They say they ask people's opinions and let them have their say, then do the opposite.

I was involved in the Save Spring Common Campaign, led by the late June Cruise for 10 years. June and her fellow campaigners fought to save Spring Common, thousands of signatures collected over these 10 years, a High Court judge deemed it an illegal sale. The council and the planning department still let it go ahead.

We cannot afford to lose any more of our green spaces. It just gives you a lift to look out at Riverside Park, that lovely space. It is fully used by more than one team of footballers at times with all their supporters attending them. All of that space is needed. A car park there is crazy.

But crazy things are happening in Huntingdon. Spring Common being built on, a supermarket allowed to be built in a totally wrong place. There should have been ample space for our extra car parking spaces. Supermarkets allowed to buy and pull down beautiful historic buildings.

I feel for the people who have looked out on to a green area and are now forced to look at three-storey rabbit hutches. Were their wishes considered?

It all seems like token gestures to me, to make it look like they are doing something, but somewhere along the line it's about making a profit before the wishes of the people.

I am prepared to go and have a sit down protest if they try to turn Riverside football pitches into a car park, with a good few people to join me.

We only had to watch the World Cup to see how football brought people together, of all ages, from all over the world enjoying themselves together through the love of the game.

There won't be a World Cup held at Riverside Park, but it is a little corner of our world that brings people together through the love of football. It cannot be lost.

MARGARET EASTON, Edinburgh Drive, St Ives

* IT is generally accepted we cannot build our way out of traffic congestion. New roads generate new traffic and within a short period congestion is worse than before.

The same is true of parking. The proposed extension to the riverside car park will be followed shortly by plans to pave over what is left of the playing field. This approach is clearly not sustainable and does nothing to deal with the very serious threat from climate change.

Shop traders in Huntingdon concerned about their future should read the recent report by the Commission for Integrated Transport on shopper loyalty. The study found that people who walked, cycled or used public transport to go shopping were far more likely to visit their local town centre than those who used the car. To secure the town's future we need more loyal shoppers - and more cars is not the solution.

Members of Huntingdonshire District Council appear to be the only people in the area keen on the guided bus project. It is, therefore, strange that they want to undermine the success of the scheme by building more free car parking.

I wonder what the bus companies, who are expected to invest in new vehicles, make of this very confused message from the council.

The claim that the town needs more parking spaces needs to be challenged. It is disappointing that Huntingdonshire District Council has not grasped the findings of the Planning Inspector's report into the Regional Plan, which noted that one of the implications of achieving a sustainable future is that we all had to use our cars less. The car park plans must be rejected.

NICK DIBBEN, Bure Close, St Ives

* MY wife and I moved to Huntingdon recently attracted by, among other things, its riverside setting.

The mature trees, the river, the bridge, the converted mill and the view across the meadows seem to us to be Huntingdon's best feature.

The car park is the only blot on an attractive area.

When you have a good resource it should be nurtured, improved and extended, not nibbled away to solve practical difficulties. When this happens, it is all too easy to end up losing it altogether.

The present issue illustrates the truth of this. Because there is already a car park it is easier to persuade oneself that an extension will do no real damage, but had there been no car park it would be much less likely that such a river frontage would be suggested as a possible site.

MICHAEL AND MARY SMALE, Hartford Road, Huntingdon

* AFTER considering the two issues of parking and the impending closure of the library, I was wondering whether, if a new library gets the go-ahead, the designated car park will also be demolished?

If so, does this contradict the need for more parking spaces at Riverside Park?

Can anyone shed any light on the library car park?

LISA WATSON, St Ives Road, Houghton