MADAM,

Sunday car park charges apply in very few parts of this country. What a shame that Monmouthshire seems to want to go out on a limb. It will not affect shoppers much. There is plenty of short stay on-street parking and, of course, all the supermarkets in the county have massive free car parks.

It will certainly impinge on sportsmen and women at a time when we are urging more people to get involved with sport. It will affect tourism, I believe quite badly. Sunday has become a major day out for many families who can park for nothing in so many tourist areas.

The area of society who have not been mentioned, and I admit to a vested interest, is church goers. (Yes, there are still quite a lot of us; more people attend church than soccer matches in the UK). In the three towns the majority of churches and chapels are in town centre situations with no car parks of their own.

Most services are followed by essential opportunities for refreshment and fellowship and exceed the one hour possible if an off street place can be found. So we rely on car parks and the imposition of a fee will seriously hinder church going in the county, I believe.

I do hope the county will reconsider before, for very minimal financial gain, making life difficult for those whom it should be seeking to support.

Michael Mortimer

Pastor, Chepstow

Baptist Church

The Rickfield,

Monmouth