THE fight for free car parking in Alton is to continue despite the recent knock-back over the new Rogers Court site.

Still smarting over East Hampshire District CouncilÕs decision to ignore local views and plough on with imposing parking fees on users of the new Rogers Court car park, members of AltonÕs Promotion and Marketing Forum remain determined to pursue the matter.

Keen to promote the regeneration of the Normandy Street end of the High Street, they had been keen to see a free or cheap short-term facility to encourage greater use. But the district council had refused.

A letter from EHDC car parks manager, John Elson, pointed out that such a scheme would have been difficult to enforce and that the installation of the barrier system required would have been expensive.

Furthermore, according to Mr Elson, free parking would be contrary to current transport policy which discourages the use of the car and would therefore have been objected to by Hampshire County Council.

Apart from cost, the forumÕs other concern had been that the car park would be used for long-term parking and, as such, had suggested a £20 all-day fee to discourage this practice, but this too had been discarded. Instead, Mr Elson said the situation would be monitored and charging looked at again, in line with the councilÕs five-year review, due in three years time.

Town mayor David Willoughby was unimpressed. ÒAs long as car parking charges in Alton are reviewed on a monetary basis and not on the basis of local facility provision, our input is almost a waste of time. But,Ó he urged, Òwe should continue to protest at every stage if we want free car parking to help promote the town.Ó

In agreeing with Mr Willoughby, Alton Chamber of Commerce and Industry secretary David Gay had his own suggestion to make.

He asked why, if EHDC had felt it made economic sense to put a meter into a car park as small as Rogers Court, they could not do the same at Selborne and Chawton where visitors would be unlikely to balk at paying a small fee.

Furthermore, he felt the system should be extended to include much larger car parks at places such as Liss and Liphook. ÒIt would help to spread the load and take unfair pressure off Alton shoppers,Ó he said.