RESIDENTS of the Bowerham and Primrose areas of Lancaster are fuming. Why?

Because the city council plans to introduce a residents' parking scheme to the whole area.

Basically, after receiving a number' of requests from local people, they are looking into a scheme which will involve hundreds of houses in the areas of Lancaster directly bordering St Martin's College.

Presumably, this is to deter students from parking in streets around the college. Which raises the question, why did the council recently refuse planning permission for a car park in the college grounds?

I'm sure they said it was because there wasn't a need for one or that it wouldn't make a great deal of difference, or something like that.

But they must have had parking scheme in mind at that time because these things spend a long time being planned before they are ever made public. It stinks!

This scheme will be nothing more than a tax on the people who do not have a driveway for their car. After all, if you've got a drive you won't have to pay for a residents' on-street permit, will you? Which means that the residents of the terraced Primrose streets a lot of them pensioners will predominantly suffer from this scheme.

Surely it is grossly unfair to introduce an on-street parking scheme to an area which has properties made up of two types of home - those with driveways' and those without'.

I'm sure the council will press on with its plan to introduce this money-grabbing scheme but I'm also sure that at £25 per vehicle I will be able to drum up opposition to it.

Anyone wishing to voice their concern at these proposals can e-mail views to me at SKelly4033@aol.com and we will form a Bowerham and Primrose Campaign against the residents' parking scheme.

I will also keep people up to date with the number of objections I receive. After all, we wouldn't want the council to believe that this scheme is actually wanted, would we?

Sean Kelly, Lancaster.