I NOTED with interest that all the “short stay” parking spaces at the front forecourt of Winchester station appear to have been converted into a secondary taxi waiting zone.

This is quite a busy, well-used station and I would be grateful if a local politician could advise as to how we are meant to drop off and pick up at the station or is this now solely to be by taxi or public transport?

The businesses in that area must be mortified that, at a stroke, the ability of customers to support their trade has seemingly been removed if parking regulations are to be honoured.

This morning I dropped my daughter off at T5 Heathrow and that now requires the payment of a £5 charge. A procedure that used to take 45 seconds now took 15 minutes as I endeavoured to work out how to comply, register and pay for the privilege of handling the supplementary arrangements in place. Was this really the outcome envisaged by those installing the impressive infrastructure, endless signage, new road markings (reducing available parking slots) and ANPR technology to support the change?

We do seem to have become rather adept at creating practices and protocols that seek to achieve the exact inverse of what might once have been considered optimum behaviour.

Stewart Keigher,

Courtenay Road,

Abbotts Barton,

Winchester

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