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NOW the dust has settled, to some degree at least, on the Hambleton parking charges debate, what now for the opponents of the charging regime adopted by the council last week?

Although they will feel a keen sense of failure over the fundamental principle, they should take some comfort from the concessions wrung from the council, particularly in Thirsk. In many respects, they ran an effective campaign.

However, will democratic revenge be exacted when Hambleton next holds elections?

That's in May 2011 and that's a awfully long time in local politics.

Whether parking charges are still a live issue will depend on how the four towns - but particularly Northallerton - perform economically in the intervening years.

Unfortunately, that's a matter likely to be clouded by the general downtown in the retail trade associated with the nation's general economic slump. Every shop closure will be greeted as evidence of either the pernicious effect of parking charges or the general state of the economy, depending on which side of the argument you lie.

It will be interesting to see how Lewis Cooper, the iconic store in Northallerton High Street, fares. It has been in the vanguard of the opposition campaign from the start and its former managing director, Tony Howard - arguably the town's most respected retail sage - has said the store could leave the High Street for one of Hambleton's business parks where free parking would enable it to retain its car-borne customers while further developing its very successful online hamper business.

It seems inconceivable that this could come to pass but stranger things have happened in retailing in recent years. Think of Dressers in Darlington, for example.

A keen eye will also be kept on Hambleton's future charges. Any attempt to increase them in the years running up to May 2011 would be political dynamite.

11:59am Friday 4th July 2008

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