There has been a considerable amount of correspondence on the letters pages about on the potential impact on local businesses if the county council goes ahead with its proposal to introduce on-street parking charges.

As the portfolio holder for highways and transport, I must first of all underline that including this proposal was not done on a whim.

We’ve thought long and hard about what our priorities must be in this stripped-down financial climate and we’re having to make some difficult decisions.

Nobody comes into politics to introduce charges for things that were previously free.

But Cumbria is one of the last areas of the country where on-street parking in busy city and town centres is still free.

It currently costs us to enforce parking restrictions – is it not right that we should recoup those costs from motorists?

What would the alternative be - that we don’t enforce restrictions at all?

Local businesses would soon be up in arms about people clogging up the roads and parking bays with cars parked all day so that no-one can pop in for a pint of milk.

Likewise, charging a reasonable £25 fee to cover the administration of residents’ parking permits is something the vast majority of other local authorities do, and Cumbria would be right at the lower end of the charging scale compared with other councils.

The relationship between parking and shopping is a complex one – and it is far from proven that charging to park reduces footfall.

In fact some experts believe the opposite – that controlling accessibility for cars increases the viability of town centres by cutting congestion and pollution.

But rather than getting embroiled in the arguments that were had long ago in most other areas of the country where paying for parking is a normal part of life, I would like to remind everyone that we have to change.

On-street parking charges are something that the previous administration also considered - because the government is taking a swinging axe to local government budgets.

In making those choices, the council is not proposing reductions in support for children at risk of harm or older people who need support to remain in their homes.

As is often the case, no-one who has voiced their opposition to on-street charging has suggested where else the money should come from.

Management and staff cuts? It’s already our biggest area of saving – we’ll be losing more than 600 people on top of the similar number we have already lost since 2010.

This is a big, open and honest conversation about how the cuts the government is making should be made in Cumbria.

It's important for people to have their say at www.cumbria.gov.uk\ourfuture or by picking up a copy of the consultation document from their local library and returning the tear-off feedback form.

Coun Keith Little

Cumbria County Council Cabinet member responsible for highways and transport