EVERYONE I know agrees that the parking situation is now crazy in Tavistock!

Even on a wet weekday in November, by lunchtime, there is nowhere at all to park. Not even in the huge Bedford car park, where there are often at least half a dozen cars circling round, hunting for spaces. I often feel like giving up and going home in frustration! Older and less mobile residents, who have to park near the centre of town, probably end up doing just that!

It was a treat at first, paying only £2 for the whole day – though an option of 50p for just one hour would have been useful too! The low charge has definitely proved how many more local shoppers and diners, as well as visitors, are now being tempted to spend longer in Tavistock, which is great for the local economy. But, the inevitable has also happened – local employees are quite rightly taking advantage of the low charge too.

So, wise councillors, what are your plans for the future? Because if the situation is bad now, what will it be like when the hundreds and hundreds of scheduled new houses are built? Are we to expect a multi-storey built on the Bedford car park site (as rumoured)? Or will the new ‘£2 after 10am, option suffice?

Whatever the answer, ideally this problem should be addressed sooner rather than later – before the situation reverses, with people avoiding Tavistock because they know they can’t park.

Veronica Aston

Tavistock