Sir, – One has to wonder if Richmondshire District Council is aware of the acute shortage of parking in Richmond, since it appears to be in the process of selling-off parts of the staff car park in Station Road.

This is available to the public at weekends and evenings and provides particularly valuable parking on Saturdays and Sundays for shoppers bringing business to the town.

However, planning applications for the council’s former offices in Frenchgate House and Swale House suggest some 14 places appear to have been denied to the public since the applications include dedicated parking in the Station Road Car Park. This represents some 20 per cent of the available parking that will no longer be available to the staff during the week and the public at evenings and weekends.

The provision of dedicated 24/7 parking must have added significantly to the sale value of these council- owned buildings but equally means more of the public searching desperately for parking.

There is probably an argument for congratulating the council for maximising the value of their property. However the fact that it has apparently only emerged through developers' planning applications and is presumably not an option open to the general public raises issues of transparency and even-handedness as well as the practicality of the loss of parking.

MARK WHYMAN

Bargate, Richmond.