I note that you have commented recently on the price increases for resident permits for controlled parking zones (CPZ increases are excessive', March 4).

I am of the view that the CPZs exist first and foremost as a revenue raiser for Barnet and I predicted long ago that Barnet would exploit the opportunity to ratchet up the cost of permits once the zones were established.

I recently carried out a leafleting exercise in the streets outside the East Finchley CPZ in Hampstead Garden Suburb asking whether the zone's restrictions should be relaxed as it causes enormous inconvenience to users of the station.

Two hundred such leaflets were distributed from which I received around 80 signatures indicating support for an opening-up of the zone. I received one dissenting reply.

Although hardly a local referendum, these figures (40 per cent of those asked) compare favourably with the endorsement Barnet received (13.25 per cent) from the prospective beneficiaries of the zone when the council sought support for the creation of this CPZ.

Barnet is now considering setting up a CPZ in Asmuns Place in Temple Fortune.

If such a zone is established, then as elsewhere, it will quickly be enlarged, creating unsatisfiable demand for the metered spaces in Finchley Road.

This, in turn, will lead to traffic delays and probably loss of business for the shops as people give up trying to park in Temple Fortune and go elsewhere.

As even the zones' supporters are now discovering, the CPZs are run only for the benefit of Barnet Council and we should be looking at whether the consequences of the council selling' space in the public street to one particular group of people, does not have serious implications for the health of the local economy.

Gary Shaw
Hill Top, Hampstead Garden Suburb