Jerry Gilby, of South Ford Road, Dartmouth, writes:

I am not often moved to write letters to the paper but the unbalanced article regarding parking, Selfish car owners harming economy, Chronicle, November 4, needs a response.

It must have been music to the ears of Devon County Council which wishes to impose ugly and expensive meters on us.

I am fortunate to live in the old part of town but unfortunate in as much as I don't have a garage, driveway or convenient commercial premises to park outside.

Like many in my situation, I look forward to October 1 when parking becomes just a little easier. Sometimes I may not use the car for several days and at other times I may use it several times in one day, dependent on business needs.

Sometimes I have even been able to park back in the same space that I left earlier, giving those that have time to collect car numbers the impression that the car has not moved.

Parking has and always will be a problem in Dartmouth but far from the suggestion to further limit parking for locals, we actually need more spaces, not just in the winter but all year round.

Due to the lack of spaces, I have frequently had to drive around the town for 30-40 minutes, wasting fuel and adding to pollution, in a vain effort to find a parking space. The situation is so bad that we often get into the state of mind of not leaving Dartmouth for fear of not finding a parking space on return.

Due to the fire and also the construction work in Victoria Road, we have lost a significant number of spaces in town where those that live here can park legally.

I would agree that those who have off-street parking are selfish by leaving vehicles in town 'just in case they have visitors' and that motorhomes should not be allowed to overnight on the embankment.

There is no easy answer but certainly consideration should be given to designated residents' on- street parking areas, however this should only be at a nominal administration cost, after all we should not have to pay to park near where we live.

If I could be guaranteed a space at any time of day or night then I personally could live with a small fee.

Perhaps more of Victoria Road should be re-designated to this end.

Mayors Avenue car park is not a real option for residents as in the summer, as it is not possible to find a space day or night.

Electronic signage to show that Mayors Avenue car park is full would encourage more visitors to use the park and ride. Equally, fewer visitor spaces in town would encourage more use of park and ride which would enable pricing to be kept reasonable.

This will not drive trade away – let's face it if you have bothered to drive all the way from Halwell to get to Dartmouth you are not going to turn around and leave just because you can't park right in town.