This is just a pet 'niggle' of mine. Once we had Traffic 
Wardens and/or Parking Attendants. Now the Big Brother 
Police State has arrived and we have ENFORCEMENT 
OFFICERS. I understand that some research has shown that 
people respond much better to friendly persuasion rather 
than force and punishment - apparently casualty rates are 
much more reduced in traffic areas where smiley signs 
reminding you that you are going a little too quickly 
than they are in areas policed by speed cameras with the 
threat of a fine and points on your licence. If this is 
the case why do we now have to turn the Traffic Warden 
(13 letters) into an ENFORCEMENT OFFICER (18 letters, 
thereby in one fell stroke costing more in embroidery for 
the lettering and alienating the general populace by the 
aggressive implications of the title. Anyway isn't it 
time the local council got rid of the very unpopular and 
counter-productive parking charges in town and 
concentrated on attracting people here rather than 
driving them away with ENFORCEMENT officers?

I don't think there is any member of the public who
believed parking in Drayton was an issue before fees were
introduced and I for one refuse to use the pay and display
on principle. Unfortunately, this means that I am always
limited to 30 minutes in one of the few free bays available
thus depriving the town shops of a lot of my custom. I did
drive past two 'enforcement officers' the other day, busy
keeping the town free from rogue acts of traffic
abandonment and it crossed my mind then how much happier I
would have been two see two police officers providing a
service the town actually needed.

The whole parking charge debate has been around for a while
now and it seems that no manner of complaint has been able
to sway the powers that be. However, this is not something
that the people of Drayton need to accept and I
congratulate Andy for keeping the debate, one sided though
it may be, alive.

Lets hope the Town Plan Steering Group who are looking at 
mapping out Market Drayton's future for the next 10 years 
will review our parking dilemma once the survey is 
completed and our opinions considered!
That is, if parking is included in the survey.
As for my other thoughts I agree with the comments of Andy 
and David.