Yesterday I received a leaflet from Brighton and Hove City Council's "specialist consultants" JMP Consulting, who have been tasked by the council to undertake a review of the Area H (Royal Sussex County Hospital) Parking scheme.

I have been invited to complete a questionnaire to give my comments. However, I would say this was more insulting than consulting. Aescetics and ethnicity seem to be more important than comments on the scheme's impact, charging proposals and effectiveness.

Parking in this area is a nightmare, with the pressure of hospital staff and visitors adding to the over-demand caused by high housing density.

Driving is part of my job and in the evening a 10-15 minute search for a space is common. I welcome a review and real improvements but I have serious concerns about the consultation process and how residents are being invited to comment.

The questionnaire has two questions: Q1 "The council has recognised that the addition of signing essential to enforce the current scheme has an impact on the aesthetic appearance of your road ... In order to minimise the visual impact on the road you live in, would you be willing to allow us to erect parking signs on your wall/frontage where possible?"

Is this a joke? Is this the most pertinent question? Strangely there is no reference to the visual impact that the parking meters this proposal advocates will have on this conservation area.

The second and final question takes up two pages. As far as I can tell, it is not applicable to anyone in my street and most of the surrounding area: Q2 "We are also writing to ask what type of line restriction households would prefer across driveways ... Please answer ... ONLY if you have off-road parking on your property."

The fourth and final page has space for contact details, a good quarter-page on age and ethnicity and, at the bottom, a 2in box for "any other comments you have about the proposed scheme".

There are many crucial questions which need to be asked and I would encourage my fellow residents and local businesses not to be dissuaded from commenting on the detail of the scheme by this form.

What about the impact of the proposed expansion of the area on internal commuting, could the introduction of four-hour bays for £2 encourage rather than discourage all-day parking (move the car to another space at lunchtime)? What about the proposed changes to the permit scheme?

I am not against change or even charging. This needs to be a workable, well-planned scheme.

The people who live and work in the area need to ensure they have a proper say and their voice is heard.

This questionnaire is not designed to do that.

-N Hughes, Brighton