Was I the only one to feel uplifted by the headline 'Parking free-for-all to end' (Gazette, August 24)?

I remember attending meetings about the proposal to end parking on common land at New Road around nine years ago, and I wondered whether this plan would ever re-surface.

I quietly thought it was a good idea then, and still do now, so James Airey is wrong when he says: "No-one wants this to happen".

There is no doubt that we live in the age of the car. When my father was born in 1910, cars were a rarity. He witnessed the rise of the motor car, and told me it had become the 'new God'.

I hope I live to see a time when cars stop being seen in this way. Advertising doesn't help. Cars are so convenient, but they also cause a multitude of problems: accidents, pollution, noise, congestion, to name but a few. Because cars cause such harm, I don't think free parking is a good idea, as it just encourages car use.

As far as I am concerned, the more pedestrian and cycling friendly Kendal becomes, the better it is. I remember years ago, people wrote to The Westmorland Gazette, arguing against pedestrianising the town centre. Who would argue against this now?

I hope, this time, that the New Road riverside project is allowed to come to fruition. I'm sure, in time, it will be like the pedestrianisation, and no-one will wish it hadn't been done.

Rosie Whiting

Kendal