'Advantage' Windsor in the parking stakes

I stopped shopping there when I parked in the multi-storey to buy a shirt in M&S.

They didn't have it in stock and asked me to return in two days.

However, this meant a price surcharge of 5.90 on the shirt for two lots of parking.

I'm not that silly.

Clearly, our council is tied to a contract where it can only beg NCP to reduce charges, or offer it more of our money in the form of a subsidy to do so.

When the council does manage to change its approach, it might like to look at alternatives. For example, parking in the tourist town of Windsor is just as much a problem as in Worthing.

However, the difference is that the council understands it is primarily responsible to '“ and paid by '“ the local residents and traders, so it actually gives something back to them.

Anyone who can show an addressed letter to prove they live in the borough of Maidenhead and Windsor can get a free, plastic "Advantage" card from any public outlets (library, leisure centre, etc.).

This allows the holder substantial discounts for all of the borough amenities, plus variable discounts from a number of retail outlets, restaurants, etc.

These advertise in the local magazines, encouraging local residents to use their facilities/goods.

Residents benefit from cheaper prices; retailers benefit from increased sales.

Simple, really.

The useful part is that the parking meters allow the "Advantage" card to be used and, as you can see from the picture, left, a resident of the area can park free for up to an hour '“ and just 30p for two hours '“ useful for shopping, while the visitor still has to pay only 30p for the first hour and 70p for two hours.

Rather different from the infamous prices charged in Worthing, with the result that the retail outlets are thriving as opposed to the slow strangulation of the shops in Worthing.

Perhaps the most important thing, however, is that parking attendants are altogether more sympathetic to people who over-run by a few minutes, or don't quite park in a dead straight line one inch from the kerb '“ in short, people do not feel hunted the way that they do in Worthing.

Adrian Avery

Brook Barn Way

Goring-by-Sea

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Write in to Readers' Letters, Worthing Herald series, Cannon House, Chatsworth Road, Worthing, BN11 1NA, or email the Herald.

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