The Cornish Times received a letter from Pat, resident of Looe, it said:

"The simplification of tariffs is valid but I object to the sheer scale of parking charge increases for Looe as they will have the following inadvertent but damaging impacts: 

1) empty council car parks 

2) harm town centre businesses through reduction in local footfall 

3) increase staff overheads by JustPark costs @ £100 per month per worker 

4) loss of help to night-time economy with new 6-12pm charge 

5) encourage longer distance travel to supermarkets with free parking 

6) undermine town centre activities, ie fitness clubs, leisure, social, cultural, educational 

7) lead to double car journeys to drop off and to pick up 

8) lead to more on-street and nuisance parking in residential areas 

9) diminish the vitality of Looe as a place used and enjoyed by the community 

Because of the drastic tripling of JustPark prices, multi-session tickets will now only be applicable for those needing to park regularly for the whole day. It will be of no benefit for the majority of visits by residents needing two to three hours parking to shop or to attend a club or class on a regular basis. Residents won’t use JustPark and pay £5 to park in addition to class fees and consequently community activities located in the town centre will be undermined. 

Bus travel as an alternative would be great if it reached all corners and sufficiently frequent or conveniently timed but in Looe it is haphazard. This leaves either being dropped off and collected by another driver, thereby doubling vehicle usage or parking in residential streets. 

I’m therefore suggesting a significant reduction in the high rates proposed for Looe especially those tariffs that residents are likely to find useful such as short-stay and multi-session starting with:- 

1) a reduction of JustPark charges overall to say £2.50 so they become viable for half-day usage 

2) eliminate the summer premium for JustPark in Looe and elsewhere 

3) withdraw Zone A in Looe and/or 

4) reduce Zone A charges to no more than 50% above Zone B i.e. £1.50, £3.00 and £4.50 for the first three hours."