"SOMERSET Highways have decided to proceed with imposing a Residents Parking Scheme (RPS) on all the roads surrounding Richard Huish College, despite having no legal mandate to do so, and despite huge local opposition.

The scheme will do nothing to solve the problem of there being a lack of student parking at the college, and will greatly inconvenience both the residents and the businesses in the area, as well as the students who will now have nowhere to park.

The scheme is simply a money making exercise by the council who already have a special account to keep all the money they make from these parking taxes even though government rules state they should not be run at a profit.

The "consultation" was farcical: they have never asked if we want a RPS, just if we thought there was a parking issue. Even then only 59% said yes, so the highways officer removed the replies from one road to get the numbers he wanted!

I had hoped that the change of party would give us a listening council, but contact with all the local councillors has been pointless as they repeatedly promise to look into it then fail to do anything.

Be wary Taunton residents as I understand the council hope to extend this cash cow to all the streets of Taunton."

David Harrison

Taunton