THE Daily Echo reports (March 17) that Bournemouth council are planning to close three town centre car parks for redevelopment.

The land could be used for housing. Such locations will no doubt result in highly expensive properties, thus not helping at all with the immediate need for lower cost accommodation.

Like Poole council, Bournemouth seem set on removing all access to town centres for car traffic, hammering yet further nails into the coffin that holds what used to be thriving town centre facilities.

Like so many local residents I almost always shop at Castlepoint, where parking is free and traffic still reasonably easy, or other out of town locations.

Poole centre is now drab and uninviting, Bournemouth is becoming so and unsurprisingly both are losing the major retailers. The lack of attraction in using these shopping areas also means less incentive to visit the tourist attractions and support the cafes, restaurants and other smaller businesses.

Add to that the hike in remaining parking area charges and the imminent business rates increases and there will be even faster demise of once thriving centres.

So much for ‘town planning’!

GEOFFREY SMITH

Drew Close, Poole

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