Sir,

I have just heard that the Borough Council are proposing to introduce parking charges to Hatfield's already lifeless town centre. Not content with neglecting it for over a quarter of a century, it appears that they now want to kill it off once and for all.

As everyone locally knows, our town centre's one big advantage is that it is surrounded by ample and FREE car parking. This factor will also provide a useful attraction to the ever promised redevelopment.

Coupled with the Portas Pilot win, I thought the idea was to create a vibrant shopping experience with an improved market plus entertainment and Wi-Fi etc. Introducing a 2 hour parking limit stymies all this.

As presently, one can always find a parking space around the town, what is the real reason for proposing a 2 hour time limit with charges?

Is it Borough Council greed? It is certainly not congestion. Maybe there are concerns about commuter parking, but the new railway station will have a multi storey car park built there within 2 or 3 years.

Perhaps the Borough Council, with their customary anti Hatfield bias are trying to level the playing field regarding the retail shopping experience with their beloved WGC town centre - with its parking  charges which, as a consequence, has contributed to WGC's failing town centre. Can't the Borough Council see that?

Where is their common sense?

The other thing to remember is that once charges come in, they stay for ever.

Yours sincerely, Martin Hobbs, Hatfield