Moaning but doing nothing to change things!!!

This post is not like other posts I have written and is a direct response to the parking charges implemented on Tuesday. From now on we all will be paying to park in the town centre from 6pm til midnight as the councils way of making more money. Fair enough some might say. But How will this impact on the businesses within the Banbury Town Centre and how will effect visitors who may be staying over night in the centre. When I first heard there may be charges I instantly contacted the Town council and asked if, as a Town Councillor, I had any say in the matter or was I powerless to make a difference stating if I could not be heard I was happy to stand down as a councillor. I was visited by another councillor shortly afterwards who told me I was valued as a councillor but after a brief conversation I found I was likely to have little or no affect on the decision made because it was a Cherwell District Council not a Town Council decision. I was also told of all the good things the council had planned but was still not happy about the parking situation and the implications the charges would have on the Businesses in the Town Centre. My first concern is how businesses such as myself, the restaurants, hotels and B&B's that don't have there own parking, the snooker club etc.. would be affected by the charges. I wondered why other towns had refrained from charging whilst we keep on increasing ours. It seems the smaller businesses will be hit hardest. I checked Witney where I sometimes go for a meal with my girlfriend, where the council don't charge and read an advertisement for Brackley stating how parking is free, suggesting Brackley may me a good place to visit. This makes me believe Banbury may be less of an attraction by charging us through all our waking hours. Add other facts such as it is free to park in all the major supermarkets and retail parks in Banbury and it is easy to see why a once bustling Town Centre has less people shopping within it. It seems that whilst we are busy trying to improve the Town Centre with pedestrianisation and regeneration in one breath, we are pushing people away by making it more expensive to visit with the next breath. I love Banbury and maybe with age I am becoming a bit old fashioned. I believe the Town Centre should be the heart of the town but to me they are ripping it out. Now we all like to complain but few of us aact on our complaints. I need your help. If you agree with me then lets do something about it. I will speak again to the council, although they seem to be saying nothing will change regardless. I will be speaking the Chamber of Commerce and The local papers and radio stations if I have your support. We are a nation of moaners and I incluude myself. But we need to stand up now and again and say "that's not right" If you disagree with me tell me why. Educate me, I often say things and am later proven wrong but please don't sit on the fence complaining if you are not going to do anything about it