IN reply to the letter last week from Cllr Ian Allen, all I can say is wake up to the real world. Where can you still park for free in any town or city? People still go to towns and cities where they charge for parking. Ely needs the revenue. I am not ag

IN reply to the letter last week from Cllr Ian Allen, all I can say is wake up to the real world. Where can you still park for free in any town or city? People still go to towns and cities where they charge for parking. Ely needs the revenue. I am not against charges for parking so long as it's in line with other cities and towns, and it will not turn people away from shopping in Ely. It's always the same when change is announced. There is always someone going to say 'shops will close' or we will 'turn trade away'. They said exactly the same thing when the High Street was changed and the Market Square, but now we have two markets every week and it looks as if we are going to get bank holiday shopping markets as well so Ely is expanding. The Lib Dems seem to like throwing spanners in the works when all we need are some parking meters in High Street and other places as well, but what I do object to is paying consultants to sort it out. What do we pay the planning department for? Why do we need consultants?

EDDIE HOLDEN

Ely Road

Little Downham