A R Baker (Here’s the good, bad and the ugly – November 3) makes some good points.

However, his arguments are out-dated.

The truth is that retailing has undergone a sea change in the 30 years that I have lived in Dorchester.

Out-of-town shopping for residents of towns the size of Dorchester is now the norm.

Developments like Castle Point provide the advantage of huge outlets plus parking.

Having realised they can now reduce the number of such huge outlets, many big names are now down-sizing or moving out of towns altogether.

Auction website eBay now accounts for about 16 per cent of retail business and this has caused a boom in parcel deliveries.

Total internet sales are predicted to account for two thirds of all retail business within the foreseeable future.

Extra parking in the centre of Dorchester will not turn the clock back.

The austerity economy is also forcing people to look for the lowest prices – see Poundsaver’s success!

We must preserve our local independent shops and our market traders to keep our town’s character.

This can be done without burying town centres under car parks which are now becoming unnecessary.

All towns need to breathe with open space to relax in.

Why do cities have park and rides? Visitors like a bit of peace and quiet when they visit places.

Unfortunately, Dorchester has always promised to reflect its Roman history but largely failed to deliver.

The first Waitrose was built on a Roman villa and Charles Street car park covers a most important Roman mosaic.

It’s self-defeating to visit a town because it’s a nice place and then choke it up with your car.

Ironically, all this extra traffic hasn’t done our small retailers any good. They are closing at a rate of knots.

It’s not to do with car parking – they just cannot compete with the majors and their rents are so high that they cannot effectively trade in any other goods either.

Far from providing a ‘catalyst’ for Charles Street, WDDC has spent £16million to move offices when the money could have provided new retail premises at rents our local traders could afford.

I agree with A R Baker that most of Dorchester’s parking needs could go to the Fairfield site as he suggests.

It could be underground and enable new shops and offices at ground level.

However, if people supposedly couldn’t walk there, the 200 yards from the town centre, with a bag of shopping, we really are in trouble.

I see people with disabled badges on their cars walking further than that.

Heaven forbid we are all as lazy as A R Baker suggests. The town is choked with traffic already.

There are such things as baskets on wheels.

If I had my way Dorchester’s streets would be pedestrian zones and we could start to enjoy the town once more and spend some money at the same time.

Mike Joslin Garfield Avenue Dorchester