RESULTING from the disruption caused by work to implement the CHORD project, the poor car parking facilities in Helensburgh have been highlighted.

A few suggestions have come from the roads department which tinker with the problem.

Meanwhile the "elephant in the room" is ignored. I refer to the pier car park.

A decade or more ago the barrier between the free parking and the payment area was moved south resulting in the free area being drastically reduced and added to the payment area. Why?

I walk to the town centre almost every day and observed that before the barrier change the payment area contained about fifty cars and was never at any time near to full, whilst the free area was always busy. When the change occurred, over eighty parking bays were lost to the free area and not one single car extra parked in the payment area. So where do the eighty cars park? Perhaps some add to the congestion in Argyle Street whilst the visitors prefer to shop in other towns where the parking is free.

I raised this matter with the Roads Department some years ago along with the lack of "nose in parking" in lower James Street and many other parking anomalies but as appears to be that department's policy, it was ignored.

It may be a bit late in the day as the pier is to be redeveloped but until then let us have the free parking area restored.

Alan Day, Helensburgh