MY partner and I drove from our home in North East Bristol to visit the beautiful market town of Cirencester last Thursday, May 19, as we have done fairly infrequently over the last two years or so.

I was handed a ‘flyer’ in one of the shops & asked for their support, on the obvious modern day curse: namely, parking.

The town has a fine mix of traditional old style shopping and modern clothing outlets.

Plus, plenty of eating opportunities and quirky gift type outlets, while there is of course the historic element to the town, and the lovely park.

All of these will of course still attract the nearby residents to carry out their day to day shopping, which is absolutely fine, but retail in itself is a fast moving commodity which needs not to feel hamstrung by constraints e.g. the inability to attract fresh money into the town.

We are all aware of the dangers in local high street shopping areas., of creeping shop closures due to many differing causes. 

The case for taking some very awkward decisions regarding car parking around the town may be fast approaching.

Could I suggest, if it hasn’t already been dismissed, the idea of two relatively small park and ride schemes on either side of the town?

Limited to say 200 car parking spaces each, no more than two miles out of town, thereby keeping the bus journey (using small buses) to under 12 minutes.

This would mean all staff employed in town and visitors could enjoy a relatively cheap and easily accessible start and end to their day.

I know talk is cheap, but somebody does need to do something. 

P.S. We did eventually find a parking space. 

IAN TATTON 
Bristol