No parking drama (From The Oxford Times)

No parking drama

8:20am Thursday 5th July 2012 in Letters

Sir – I attended the Oxford Playhouse last night, and unusually elected to park in the George Street underground car park since my favourite ‘secret location’ was full.

I was thus unfamiliar with the current charges and was surprised to have to stump up £5.80, since in the past the ‘night-time rate’ started at 6.30pm, and now only starts at 8pm. I had no difficulty in finding a slot, the park was less than half-full — and locked up my car. At the end of the play, I re-entered the car park and drove out.

My point? There were only about 20 cars left in there. Now in the past, when an Oxford favourite like Tom Stoppard was on, you had to fight for a place in the underground, often queueing down the ramp and sweating about curtain-up. And at the end, you joined another swirling mass of machinery, vying for a slot to get out.

I am no mathematician, but it does seem to me that 20-odd cars at a high rate returns far less to council coffers than a crammed full car park at a lesser rate — or do I simply not understand car parking finances?

Chris Goffey, Forest Hill