Isn't it odd there should be such fury in Kemp Town over plans for a residents' parking scheme around the Royal Sussex County Hospital?

There certainly has been a great deal of fury from hundreds of people in the area, but it's odd because there has been controlled parking in the centre of Brighton for more than 30 years.

Generally it has worked well. Most people accept there are more cars than there are spaces available.

As car ownership expands, there will be problems over parking spaces in other areas too, including much of Kemp Town. My forecast is that within ten years restrictions will be needed in all areas with a lot of terraced houses, and not just in Brighton and Hove.

In part of the Brunswick area of Hove, there was an overwhelming demand for an extended scheme, and this is being introduced shortly. In Kemp Town there was a similar demand three years ago which led to the scheme around the hospital being approved.

It now seems that either a substantial number of people have changed their minds or there has been a big shift of population and the newcomers are less keen on the idea than the old lot.

Some roads may not be much of a problem at the moment and could possibly be taken out of the scheme. But with the remorseless rise in car ownership there will be demands for some kind of control sooner or later.

What the council is trying to encourage, amid much derision from many car owners, is a switch to other forms of transport. In some respects, this is proving a success, with bus patronage rising year on year by five per cent.

But it's a hard job persuading some people to leave their cars. One worker at the hospital phoned me in high dudgeon, explaining the parking scheme would cause her huge problems. Yet she lived almost on top of the Hove terminus of the number seven bus, which runs fast and frequent services straight to the hospital. When I pointed this out, she dismissed it as impossible.

When bikes are mentioned as alternatives, my four-wheeled friends greet the mere suggestion with howls of horror. Yet bikes are as fast in town centres as any mode of transport, as the annual commuter challenge proves.

How, the Mr Toads ask with derision, can you use a bike for supermarket shopping? My answer is that each Saturday I manage with some ease to cart £60 worth of groceries from Tesco in Station Road, Portslade, back to my home in Hove on two wheels.

There's also nothing wrong with a brisk walk. It takes 20 minutes to stroll from the back of Kemp Town into Old Steine and it's exhilarating, whether you saunter along the seafront or meander through the shopping streets.

The car confers great freedom when used sparingly. But when most people drive them in crowded town streets, that freedom is eroded.

Brighton and Hove Buses managing director Roger French gives a good example. In Lansdowne Street in Hove there are 316 people on the electoral roll but only space for 35 cars to park.

A bus passes the foot of the street in Western Road every 35 seconds. The choice of transport for most people seems obvious. But it's proving a tough task to prise people out of their cars and while they remain there, parking problems will multiply.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.