PETERSFIELDÕS town centre manager Steve Johnston is planning an ambitious project which he hopes will help to relieve the pressure on the townÕs overcrowded car parks.

Mr Johnston believes car pooling is one way to help free- up valuable parking spaces and save money for Petersfield shop and office workers.

A recent customer questionnaire has revealed that most people believe Petersfield has a serious parking problem.

And many workers believe East Hampshire District Council all-day car parking charges are too expensive and would rather take advantage of free spaces in residential areas.

The problem was highlighted in The Herald earlier last year when shop workers spoke out against plans to paint yellow lines on residential roads near the town centre.

Mr Johnston is hoping the car pooling scheme will release spaces in the town and cut the cost of travelling for workers.

He said: ÒCounty councils and central government are trying to promote car pooling under a project called the Work Travel Plan.

ÒIt usually takes place within large businesses but councils and local authorities are also looking at this.

ÒMy idea is to try the scheme with all PetersfieldÕs 200 businesses which is quite a large project to take on. I donÕt think itÕs ever been tried on this scale before.Ó

He added: ÒI worked for a county council and you only ever come into contact with a very small per cent of the people working there.

ÒYou can find yourself working a few doors away from someone who lives in your street.

ÒSharing a car to work means people are cutting their cost of travel by at least half. It also means we are making more car parking spaces available.Ó

Mr Johnston is hoping to create a database of people working in the town, how they travel to work and where they live.

To gather information he will be leaving short questionnaires with Petersfield shop and office employees.

Once all the information is collected, Mr Johnston will begin the ÒmatchmakingÓ process.

He said: ÒIÕm very keen to point out that I wonÕt be giving out peopleÕs names and addresses to just anyone.

ÒIÕll be acting as an introducer between people who could share a car to work.

ÒIÕm not expecting to get four people into every car, but if we can double up on a couple of dozen cars I think the project will be a success.Ó

Shops and offices can expect a visit or call from Steve Johnston within the next few weeks.