However, it has taken Diss mayor Simon Olander defence of one of the town's district councillors to hit the nail on the head when it comes to what really is behind the battle of the meters: Playschool Parliament.

The Diss Express postbag and email inbox have been inundated with missives from local political parties bitching about each other, while not actually focussing on what the people they supposedly represent want.

In my opinion, local government should be just that – local. Leave it to the big boys and girls in the House of Commons to make the major changes, while insulting each other in increasingly inventive ways.

Thankfully, South Norfolk has an MP who does listen to his constituents as many of you will be aware from his regular column in the Diss Express.

Unfortunately, some of his Tory colleagues at the district council have become increasingly involved in oneupmanship with their Lib Dem counterparts.

If they want to know what the residents of South Norfolk want, why not ask them through all media, including surveys through the letter box, local newspapers, radio and the internet?

By doing that we wouldn't have the rather ridiculous row over the car parking charges.

Instead the district would be pushing for cheap and all-encompassing public transport which would not only help put a stop to the parking fee debate but also make South Norfolk more environmentally friendly and help businesses to boot.