I SEE that our beloved council is allowing its staff to park in the Lovemead car park at no cost. Wonderful. What about the permit holders, at £160 per year, who are now finding it difficult to get a parking space? And what about Joe Public?

Ah I know, loss of revenue from the public parking in Lovemead will mean the council has a reason to replace this lost revenue with a hike in our council tax! Clever!

The reason for this free parking bonanza is because there isn’t enough parking at County Hall. Obviously parking wasn’t considered in the multi-million pound refurbishment. Someone forget to add parking for the staff.

I see that Philip Whitehead, cabinet member of the council, thinks that this parking idea is fantastic as staff will be able to shop on their way to and from work and thus provide a boost to the local economy. I suppose then that the shops will be open before 9am and close after 5pm to catch this influx of cash from council workers. What planet is he on? Obviously not this one.

This council never reacts to what the council tax payers want until there is a hue and cry, so let's raise one. Write to your councillor (copy in Mrs Scott) complaining about this really stupid idea, which beats the Balfour Beatty debacle, paying to get your green bin emptied, the allowance increase in councillors' salary, the state of our roads and don’t forget the brand new roof for County Hall. Why wasn’t that done at the time of the refurbishment and how much is that costing us?

This council needs a rocket up its backside, or better still an investigation by central government on how it is run and the council tax money that is wasted on these harebrained schemes.

Ron Kirkwood Trowbridge