Bob Hattersley, of South Town, Dartmouth, writes:

Trying to match some ambiguous survey questions with the choices offered, has prompted me to ask your indulgence to publish some thoughts vital to Dartmouth's future prosperity.

It seems to me that Dartmouth traders are becoming increasingly dependent on passing trade. This means sales to those customers who pop in to our shops and businesses to see what is on offer and then to buy what takes their fancy. This applies to our town residents but mostly to our all important holiday visitors.

Unless visitors, particularly, can park their cars for a reasonable duration around our town centre streets, they will not stop to even window shop, let alone enter a business to buy something. So our town and district councils should be thinking about what sort of parking would offer Dartmouth traders the best opportunity to sell their goods and services. This is very basic marketing logic.

So, I offer the following thoughts to guide those who are planning our parking scheme.

1. Should not prospective customers have priority of car parking in our town centre?

2. Would having dedicated parking areas with say a 60 or 30-minute limit or less help?

3. In order to increase business, would local traders and shopkeepers be prepared to give prospective customers priority over their own convenience?

4. If so, would they contribute to the cost of a very frequent vehicle service to ferry themselves, their employees and goods to and from an out of town parking area to their place of business? This would seem to release a lot of parking slots for the use of prospective customers, whilr encouraging prompt employee timekeeping.

5. How would you provide a more useful service to bed and breakfast visitors that allowed them to use the park and ride facility without hindrance? Currently the park and ride scheme notice fails to explain if cars can be parked overnight.

6. Would visitors who come to Dartmouth for the day be encouraged to make our town a 'visit of first preference' if the ride up and down to the park and ride had the choice of fun transport, for example in a horse and carriage or classic bus or other memorable mode? I guess children, particularly, would encourage their parents to make Dartmouth a repeat port of call if they were left with happy memories.

7. Do pedestrian only areas effectively reduce total car parking availability? If so, does this mean fewer prospective customers?

8. If different car parking areas were to have differing time limits and charges, could a simple colour-coded symbol be placed to instantly show motorist the type of area as they drive past. A notice of explanation at the top of the town could usefully inform motorists of this scheme.

My thrust is that customers are the lifeblood of all businesses and if a local economy is to thrive, for everyone's benefit, they must be treated as such.