Parking provision isn’t exactly a topic guaranteed to get most people’s pulses racing.

That’s because it’s one of those vital, yet below-the-radar, services – like bin collections – that only really becomes a talking point when it’s not working.

For traders though, and therefore the local economy, the way parking in a market town like Otley either helps or hinders would-be visitors and shoppers can be of crucial significance.

The way spaces are provided is also key in deciding whether residents and visitors with disabilities find popping into the town centre to post a letter, visit the bank or just pick up some shopping, a pleasant, or thoroughly off-putting, experience.

So the £34,000 shake-up of Otley’s parking is very welcome and, coming on the back of a strategy drawn up three years ago, overdue.

The proposals being made by Leeds City Council include adding more on-street and disabled parking in convenient places, improving the free parking provision for coaches and changing which of the town centre car parks are pay and display.

Some of those changes are bound, as nearly all changes do, to unfortunately cause inconvenience to some people.

But if they result in an overall improved delivery of parking services to most residents and visitors to the town, thereby attracting more shoppers, the upheaval will be worth it – and could give local traders a very welcome boost.

Cuts must cause the least harm

In an ideal world councils would provide all the services anyone could want and no-one would ever have to talk about cuts.

But we don’t live in an ideal world and as local authorities struggle to balance their books the reality is that some things have to go.

In the case of Leeds one of those things is free public transport to faith schools. Abolishing blanket provision of this free transport is never going to be a vote winner.

Any issues involving children are immediately more emotive and parents feel strongly – quite rightly – about the schools they want their children to go to.

But local authorities have to look at the bigger picture and have to attempt to make their cuts where they cause least harm.

Of course parents with a strong faith will want their children to attend a particular school – but many of these children are travelling from areas where there is already a perfectly good school available. It is a choice rather than a necessity.

Nobody wants to be hit by a cut but the fact is that something has to go. If not this, then what?