At the meeting I attended, and spoke at last Thursday, county councillor Rodney Rose decided to introduce controlled parking zones in the Divinity Road and St Mary’s Road areas and to defer a decision to introduce it in the South Zone (Magdalen Road to Howard Street) for at least six months.

Given the results of the public consultations, which showed overwhelming support for a CPZ everywhere except the south, this was a sensible outcome, and echoed what had emerged in 2009-10 when the community got together to draw up their own recommendations for solving the parking problem.

However, before the schemes are implemented there must be detailed recommendations on parking bays for local traders, especially in Magdalen Road. After the meeting a promise of detailed consultation on this issue was extracted from highways officers.

In the summer, when the schemes are introduced, it will be vital to monitor the impact. Clearly, to avoid the charge, or that they can't get permits, some now parking in Hurst Street and St Mary's Road will move to Essex, Sidney and Catherine Street, plus Magdalen Road.

Hopefully, the overspill will not be large but the simple reality is we don’t know. Come the summer, we need to look at this every day to assess what happens.

This time, because the county did what the local residents wanted in 2009 – split the two sides into separate zones – there was not the bitter division we have seen in the past and a decision was easy. Democracy triumphed.

Councillor DAVID WILLIAMS London Road Oxford