Yet again the issue of parking charges in Bradford city centre is set to spark controversy. The latest rash of changes proposed by the Council sets out to remove all long-stay parking from the central core of the city to make way for short-stay paid-for parking.

This has once again cropped up because of conflicting arguments about the best way ahead for the city centre. Traders quite rightly want free parking to entice as many customers as possible to their shops, and it is true that the retailers need all the help they can get to encourage badly-needed trade if the city centre is to sustain a future as a viable shopping location.

At the same time we need to make working in the city centre safe and convenient for large numbers of people who commute by car but are concerned about parking a significant distance away, both in terms of their personal safety walking to and from their vehicles and because of worries about damage and vandalism to their cars.

It is a difficult situation to balance. If parking is too short-term or too expensive people won't have sufficient time to shop or will find the additional cost off-putting. Alternatively, if too much of the parking space is long-term it clogs up the street spaces and deters shoppers.

The nub of the issue is that Bradford doesn't have enough parking space of every type. It needs to create more and make it cheap and convenient for all concerned to get the city centre back on its feet. Let's get the prosperity rolling first. After that, we can start thinking about how to reduce the effect of cars on the environment.