I DO hope that Professor Cullingford’s proposals are allowed to evaporate before they do any real damage (A vision for the town, Examiner, April 10). Banning cars from the town centre is a recipe for disaster.

There was a lot more sense in Building Design Partnership’s 1965 study on the town centre, which set out the ring road (and the essential Longroyd Freeway which was to serve it and link it to the M62 at Outlane and Clifton and which was cut, thus invalidating the ring road at a stroke) and issued a severe warning to the then town council about the damaging effect of too many major superstores and an insufficient provision of town centre car parking.

A warning which has been ignored, to the loss of the town.

Huddersfield is fortunate in being on a hill. It would therefore be easy (but not cheap!) to use those contours as has been done for example in a modest hilltop town in central France. Here the visitor drives up the hill towards the town, but before getting there is turned off into the hill itself, where extensive car parking has been provided for free. Lifts then take the people straight up to emerge in the central square.

Not easy and not cheap and great determination would be needed to attempt such a solution. The Victorians could have done it, but I doubt if we could.

But if visitors are to be compelled to park right outside the ring road (crossing this, with its permanent queues from one set of lights to the next, is difficult), then visitors will go somewhere else instead. You may lead a horse to water but you cannot (yet!) make it drink.

Arthur Quarmby

Holme