Next year Clevedon, Nailsea and Portishead - not necessarily in that order - take a further step towards becoming suburbs of the west’s internationally famous Super-Mare seaside resort.

Extending the three towns’ car parking charges brings them in line with the centre of North Somerset Council’s holiday universe.

Clevedon’s halfway there with their ‘pay and display’ often almost empty Salthouse Fields vehicle park, already impacting on surrounding streets, obstructing residents, walkers and cyclists, causing motorists to add congesting stop/go fumes in the narrower roads.

Portishead Lake Grounds will lose many local outdoor swimmers, tennis players, cricketer supporters, skateboarders, dog walkers and bowlers unable to cram their vehicles into surrounding highways or with sufficient time or ability to walk the nearest mile or two from a bus stop or supermarket car park.

Nailsea will probably see the shrinking of its centre shopping mall especially as it lacks a pier or prom.

At least its resulting vacant retail units and deserted parks could help solve another of North Somerset Council’s problems – National Government’s demand for more land for housing.

Roy Hewetson, Redcliffe Close, Portishead