THE debate over the parking consultation rages on and it still concerns me to see so little realism in some of the arguments being put forward.

As I indicated in my column last week, the hard fact is that parking in Salisbury loses money - in the region of half a million pounds a year.

Therefore, when considering how best to engage constructively with the decision-makers at County Hall, there are two paths open to us - to make the case that we are special and deserving of being subsidised even further by the rest of Wiltshire or to propose ways to increase revenue locally or reduce costs in order to fund reductions in short-term charges.

I have suggested that we be prepared to look afresh at the viability of our park and ride sites and the commercial opportunities that exist around them. Speaking to members of the BID, there seems to be some appetite to do that.The very modest reduction in one and two-hour charges that has thus far been proposed and which has attracted such scorn is predicated on nothing else changing.

My point is this: if people demand radical price reductions, they need to be willing to contemplate radical changes to facilitate it.I do not deny that change has consequences - and I urge people to recognise honestly what they would be.

In other towns and cities where park and ride is thriving, use is incentivised, the associated bus networks serve it well and there is an aggressive strategy of high city centre pricing alongside it.

If we don't want Salisbury to follow that path then the hard truth is that revenue needs to be raised or costs reduced in other ways.

As a local resident, I have been listening carefully to many traders in Salisbury who have argued that slashing parking charges would raise revenues by increasing the number of visitors to the city.

However, as the Green candidate has pointed out, this could also have consequences for air quality and the environment.

There may well be a heavy price to pay in terms of increased levels of traffic, pollution and pressure on the already limited on-street parking. And if visiting Salisbury becomes an even more challenging traffic experience, it is unlikely increased revenues will be maintained.

One option I would welcome being considered is a more generous cut in prices for short-stay parking balanced by a marked hike in prices after the three hour mark.

This would allow visitors and locals to enjoy an extended period of time in town whilst encouraging those commuting in for work, or wanting to stay for the whole day, to use park and ride services - thereby making more of the park and ride network financially viable.

The proposition of offering free parking on the periphery of the town, outside the ring road only adds to the lack of realism surrounding this debate.

It would force Salisbury's elderly and most vulnerable residents to walk a significant distance to do their daily shopping.

I will be meeting this week with senior Wiltshire councillors and officials from County Hall and, of course, I will be strenuously representing the views of all of the constituents who have contacted me on this issue.

But I will also continue to urge an abstinence from party political grandstanding and a willingness to follow where the facts lead, lest quick wins are implemented and Salisbury once again suffer unintended consequences - exactly as happened with the bungled implementation of park and ride 14 years ago.

John Glen MP

Member of Parliament Salisbury