SIR -- It was with disbelief that I read (Oxford Mail, December 12) that councillor Jean Fooks and her colleagues are thinking of taxing Oxford residents for parking outside their homes, only seven years after this was overwhelmingly rejected by the public.

This enraged Mrs Fooks at the time and it is clear she can barely wait to try again.

Already the same tired arguments are being trotted out, and if the public have to see them off again, it will look even less kindly on those responsible.

Councillor David Robertson's argument is particularly spurious and divisive. City taxpayers already pay for services that benefit county taxpayers, and vice versa.

It is a perversion of the argument to claim that county taxpayers are paying for the city's parking zones when, on the council's own admission, they are an antidote to on-street parking by out-of-town commuters.

Mrs Fooks cites Abingdon as a town where residents pay for their parking permits, but neglects to mention that, when the attempt was made to impose it on Oxford, Abingdon was charging £50 per year.

Now it has shot up to £100 and £16 on top of that for visitors' permits for every 40 days.

Once such a scheme is introduced, any council can hike its charges at will, and they do so.

She describes Oxford as an anomaly and there is a reason for this -- residents threw the scheme out seven years ago. Accept it.

NIGEL HISCOCK

Great Clarendon Street

Oxford