In reply to Cherie Luxton's letter about the CBD parking I think that the argument about who pays is a fair comment and this is where I as a retailer think the problem arises. The CBD customers are the only people who pay for the privilege of shopping anywhere in the city and with the real threat of receiving a fine of up to $40 as well. Now this doesn't happen in shopping malls does it? Why doesn't the council meter the Mount Maunganui and Greerton shopping areas as well as any other business area they own? This would level up the playing field and give us some chance of competing with other areas in the city. The other concern is that very little money collected from the meters goes back to the CBD with quite a lot going in to subsidising the buses, of which most call into the shopping malls, some going into cycle ways and walk ways around the city and some going into the council coffers to subsidise the ratepayers like yourself. Now can this be called fair? All we ask is to give the retailers and their customers the same chance to do business as elsewhere in the city.
Bill Campbell, Papamoa.