As a county, Suffolk is blessed with some of the most attractive - and functional - market towns that you will find anywhere. And it's time residents recognised that!

If you look beyond the three really large civic centres of Ipswich, Lowestoft and Bury St Edmunds there is a real  wealth of superb communities worth visiting.

I live in Ipswich - but I'm a regular visitor to Woodbridge, Stowmarket and Felixstowe which are all fantastic centres with a huge amount to offer.

As well as shops there are places to walk, get lunch and generally enjoy a good day out.

Another place we sometimes visit is Sudbury - a very attractive place with much going for it but I'm afraid I sometimes feel as if its supporters have a bit of an inferiority complex.

Babergh Council is currently having one of its periodic bouts of navel gazing as it tries to work out if it should charge for car parking.

Knowing the financial constraints facing local government and the need to maximise income to support services, it seems like a no-brainer to me.

But some people in Sudbury, and in Hadleigh for that matter, seem to think that charging a modest amount for short-stay car parking is the end of civilisation as we know it!

They warn that charging for parking will "kill our town centres." 

Really? Do they believe that Sudbury and Hadleigh have such rubbish town centres that the only reason people go there is because the parking is free?

Is Lavenham a tourist honeypot merely because the parking is free?

Stowmarket Mercury: Lavenham would be a tourist honeypot with or without parking charges.Lavenham would be a tourist honeypot with or without parking charges. (Image: Charlotte Bond)

I've got news for those residents. They're actually quite attractive places. I really can't think many visitors would be put off by having to pay £1.50 for having a decent park to leave their car in for a couple of hours!

Parking charges don't seem to have reduced other market towns to economic wastelands - Woodbridge and Stowmarket always appear to be bustling when I go there.

Felixstowe is a bit bigger and being a coastal resort has its own attraction for visitors. But the main car park serving the town centre always appears to be pretty busy - even at this time of the year when the attractions of the beach aren't exactly obvious!

One other point. If you drive anything other than a total wreck, wouldn't you rather pay a small amount to park somewhere decent than just leave it somewhere that no one can afford to maintain?

But essentially market towns aren't about the minimal cost of parking - they're about offering people what they want. That's where they do so well.

Felixstowe is a magnet for people interested in buying - and selling - second hand books with its Treasure Chest in the heart of town.

In these towns you can find really good household goods stores (what we used to call ironmongers), and they offer real choice with character - making a few hours shopping a pleasure rather than a drudge.

Maybe it's an age thing, but I've reached the stage that when I go to one of the market towns I want to linger - have a coffee or a light lunch.

When I go into Ipswich town centre I tend to be happy to just go in, get what I need and come out again.

So my plea remains to those who live in these towns: be proud of them. Understand their attractions. And realise that they have so much to offer.

And to the good folk of Sudbury and Hadleigh: have confidence that you actually live in quite a nice place and don't believe the only point of going there is to find free parking!

  • The opinions expressed in this column are the personal views of Paul Geater and do not necessarily reflect views held by this newspaper, its sister publications or its owner and publisher Newsquest Media Group Ltd.