SO it looks like we are all going to have to pay to park in some of Northwich town centre's Cheshire West and Chester Council car parks.

Needless to say, this hasn't gone down well in some quarters as evidenced by the vitriolic comments on the Guardian's website.

One poster suggested it is the final nail in the town's coffin and another added that the car park charges would mean no one who isn't local will come to town in future.

People are entitled to their opinions, of course, but I wonder if those posters are being just a little bit melodramatic, especially giving the low level of the proposed charges ranging from 20p for two hours, up to £3 for 10 hours and only in the Market, Victoria Club and Watermans, Verdin and Memorial Court and Cumberland Street car parks.

Parking will remain free at Barons Quay, as well as at Old Depot Site, Zion Street and Park Street.

Charging 20p for two hours seems neither here nor there apart from the inconvenience of having to make sure you've got the right change on you.

But what it does do is add an element of control to the town's parking regime.

Call me cynical but if these proposed charges actually go ahead, I think it won't be long before we start hearing stories of people being hit by parking fines for overstaying their 20p welcome.

And the phrase thin end of the wedge also springs to mind. Once people get used to paying their 20ps, how long will it before the price to park starts to creep up?

The thing is, people have just got used to free parking in Northwich over many, many years and having to pay will come as a shock, no matter how cheap it is.

And that might just provide the psychological barrier that will stop them getting in their cars and driving to town.

I did a bit of research into the subject and came up with this policy statement from a nearby local authority:

"Parking is an essential element of a journey by private vehicle and is inextricably linked to the journey purpose.

"The availability, convenience and cost of parking will sometimes be a factor in a persons’ choice of destination, along with the attractiveness of the destination, the length of the journey, and the availability of alternative destination options.

"Parking is, in itself, unlikely to be the main motivation for travelling – rather it is a secondary factor that can add, or detract, from the journey experience and overall attractiveness of a destination. It facilitates visits to the town centres for a range of different purposes – eg retail, leisure, employment, business, deliveries et – as such, there are often competing needs and competition for limited space available both in on- and off-street locations."

Let's just look at that should we? It seems to be saying that people will elect to drive somewhere after factoring in if they will be able to park, how easy it is to park and how much it costs to park.

But, and this is a big but, one of the significant factors in the decision-making process is how attractive the destination is.

And I suppose that's a fair point. If I elect to go shopping in Manchester or Liverpool, the cost of parking can be eye-watering but to me, the rewards of going to a big city justify it.

So the question to ask is how attractive are our town centres. What do they offer? What is it about them that would pull in the punters?

I'll leave you to supply your own answers to those largely rhetorical questions.

But blaming the demise of our town centres solely on car park charges is just a little too simplistic.

This is a true story that happened to me a couple of weeks ago.

I needed a new battery for my activity tracker. This wasn't for some obscure brand no one has heard of, it was for a Garmin device and was, I was assured, a standard watch battery.

No problem, I thought and headed into town. I tried four shops that I know sold those types of batteries.

In three of them, the man behind the counter looked at me like I was speaking a foreign language. The fourth man did try to help. He found a battery that was the right width but it wasn't thick enough. It would have cost me around £3.50 for one battery.

He said he could perhaps order the correct size for me but it would cost more.

Epic fail for the town centre shops then.

But 10 minutes on the internet produced multiple suppliers. A couple of clicks later, I had ordered a multi-pack of the correct battery (four batteries in total) that arrived at my house two days later. At a cost of £3.

Epic success for the internet then.

I would ask how can town centres hope to compete with that – especially if you have to pay to park?

By Guardian columnist Fly in the Ointment