I NOTE that there has been a concerted campaign opposing the council's proposal to charge for parking outside homes.

Taxes have shot up substantially in recent years - both locally and nationally - so I would normally understand and applaud such scepticism.

However, regarding the current campaign, there is a point of view that I have not yet seen expressed.

The highways are becoming increasingly clogged up with vehicles whose owners regard the main road as their legitimate garages.

This has the effect of reducing many busy thoroughfares to single lanes and motorists face the frustrating delays caused by these obstructions.

Unless the law has been changed, a house owner doesn't automatically own the road adjacent to his property - or does he?

One of your correspondents (Stephen Phillips, Prospective Candidate for the Independence Party, no less) asserts "Not all of us can afford nice big houses with long driveways''. I have news for him.

Surely, many (if not most) modest-size houses nowadays have garages and/or drives allowing off-road parking.

I paid quite a lot for my garage. Why shouldn't road obstructors pay a modest fee for inconveniencing others?

A very long time ago, planning requirements were upgraded to insist that properties should comprise a bathroom.

Surely, in this day and age it's not too much to ask that provision should also be compulsory to allow vehicles to be stationed within the confines of their owners' premises?

Ron Burlingham, Hedge End.