'Free parking to end at hall' reads a Gazette headline (January 31). But not quite.

The car park to the front of Kendal's County Hall is frequently closed to the public to allow free access for councillors only and now it seems that the car park to the rear will be available to the public on payment of a charge, but the small print reveals that "permits allowing council staff, councillors and visitors to park free are going to be introduced".

Would any of our councillors who are in favour of this move care to explain wh? Why should council staff and councillors be treated differently to any other tax-paying citizens?

There must be many hundreds of people employed in the town in shops, offices, banks, restaurants and other businesses who have to use their cars to travel to work and then find somewhere to park, for which they usually have to pay handsomely.

Council staff and councillors similarly may have to use their cars and are also paid for the work they do, but what is it exactly that sets them apart and qualifies them not just for free parking, but free parking immediately outside their place of work?

Councils up and down the country are very strong on equality in all areas these days - gender, ethnicity, disability, religion and so on. Should this not extend to the "perks", however minor, which they allow themselves?

Perhaps it would do our elected representatives well to remember that "council owned", an expression they like to use, really means publicly owned, administered by the council on behalf of and for the benefit of the public.

John Graham

Kendal