I FAIL to understand why South Lakeland District Council has got so up-tight about New Road as a parking place (Gazette, August 24, 'Parking free-for-all to end').

How come it has suddenly become a dangerous hazard and illegal? New Road has been successfully used for parking (and fairs) from time immemorial (probably since its creation more than 100 years). If it is illegal, why was it allowed to persist for so long?

The council has its knickers in a twist as to the possibility that it may have to pay compensation if an accident occurs. How many times has it had to pay compensation in the past and how many accidents have there been? I never heard of any.

Instead it now proposes to spend just under half a million pounds of public money to create a public recreation area which, adjacent to a noisy thoroughfare, is unlikely to be welcomed by many.

This money will join the other large sums spent on nonsense projects, such as ruining the visual appeal of the Market Place and repaving the streets from K Village supposedly to assist the throngs of pedestrians (who never materialised) from K-Village to the town centre.

New Road provides much-needed parking for reportedly 180 cars, all here on serious business, whether workers in the town, visitors or worshippers on Sunday. These people will be seriously inconvenienced just to keep bureaucrats (who anticipate a rich harvest of parking fees) happy.

Kent Brooks

Kendal