YOUR lead in the Standard of January 28 rightly made the point that securing consensus on the Market Place redevelopment has been no easy task.

But your comment that the long-term gain for town centre traders should be worth the short-term pain due to increased visitor footfall misses the point that parking for that is simply not there.

It is near impossible for anyone arriving in the town after 11am on a weekday and even earlier at weekends, to find an empty parking space. Residents may choose to cruise around the car parks in the hope they may “strike lucky”, but visitors will not, and are unlikely to come back.

If we add the increased pressure on parking from the proposed developments at Chesterton and Siddington, it is hard to see where any visitors will be able to park.

You also refer to the Park Street works. They greatly improved that area of the town – what a pity the high standard set at the time has not been maintained with damaged or sunken stone setts replaced with black tarmac patches.

Cirencester is a lovely town that we should all be proud of, but an apparent disregard for the realities of what is needed to keep the town a vibrant centre may be its downfall.

NEIL HOLT

Ampney Crucis