In reply to Val Compton’s letter about a residents’ parking scheme (September 23), I fully support her aims, though I think that initiating a scheme in Marlborough at the moment might cause more problems than it would solve.

Like most small towns we have tremendous pressure on town centre parking spaces. Retailers and businesspeople who commute have very few viable public transport alternatives, and are already trying to cope with increased parking charges. A residents’ parking scheme would simply push the problem slightly further afield.

What I am proposing is that we first alleviate some of the pressure by starting a ParkShare scheme that introduces residents who have spare parking capacity on their property during the day, to those who have to use their cars to travel in.

This idea would potentially open up hundreds of new town centre parking spaces in areas such as Town Mill, River Park, George Lane, Hyde and Back Lanes, whilst giving hard-pressed residents a small additional income to help them pay their council tax.

And of course once this scheme was running, then it would be easier to create a workable residents’ parking solution for those who have a daily battle to park near their homes.

I’d love to hear what people in the community think, and if I get enough support then I’ll raise the issue with the town council and try to get some funding from county to develop the project further. You can contact me via email at martin@houlden.co.uk or read more at www.parkshare.net Coun Martin Houlden, Marlborough.