THE announcement of “free after three” parking in Darlington in the lead up to Christmas is welcome (Echo, Oct 4), but if it is the council’s final word on the matter of parking charges it will be an opportunity missed.

The “I’m Backing Darlington” campaign wants to see a thriving town centre and put several serious ideas forward this summer.

Furthermore, we discussed these ideas at length with senior council officers so that policy makers could be in no doubt about our suggestions.

The number one issue is Darlington’s insistence on clinging on to parking charges when time limited free parking would be a bold big move to encourage shoppers. Tinkering around confuses people.

If somebody lives in, say, Middleton St George, they can turn left and come to Darlington with the cost and inconvenience of parking charges, or turn right to Yarm where parking is free for a short period.

Yarm High Street is thriving. We even suggested making a universal free offer relating to street parking charge alone rather than all car parks, but so far not so good.

This is now moving away from the officers and into the realm of policy.

Those councillors who continue to resist solutions that have the overwhelming support of businesses will find themselves on the wrong side of the argument.

Anne Elliott, Graham Robb, Tim Catterall, Bill Gillow