TO pay or not to pay? Who d ever have thought car parking could raise such passions? And all to the good, as it has resulted in a splendid new Chamber of Commerce and the uniting of Ely s highly-taxed traders behind a brave new leader – Elaine Griffin-Sin

TO pay or not to pay? Who'd ever have thought car parking could raise such passions? And all to the good, as it has resulted in a splendid new Chamber of Commerce and the uniting of Ely's highly-taxed traders behind a brave new leader - Elaine Griffin-Singh. So what happens next? The parking problem won't go away. It can only get worse as Ely's expansion continues. Time for rational debate then? Let's hope it can happen without being turned into another issue for shameless political point scoring, spin doctoring and misinformation campaigns. With district council elections only a year away, am I being too optimistic?

For the record, living in Prickwillow, I hate the idea of paying to park every time I nip into Ely, if only for the inconvenience and fiddling about. On the other-hand, I am finding it more and more difficult to park in town and often reluctantly choose Tesco simply because it's easier.

JACKIE PETTS

Lark Bank, Prickwillow