Sometimes we look at something, some situation, some issue, and we think we know what the problem is. Not only that, but we believe the solution to the problem is easy, simple, straightforward.

So think of that, and now think of car parks. Parking, in this county, in this place of towns and villages and privatised transport, has become a problem. And it’s about to burst.

In Wotton-under-Edge, parking is growing from a spot to a huge boil.

Concern has been raised with the proposals to change the Chipping car park in the town. Currently, the car park has 36 long-stay spaces and the proposal by Stroud District Council is to reduce these spaces to 18.

Understandably, local people have been angered. Wotton, like many towns across Gloucestershire, relies on an influx of cars, bringing with them folk who work there, shop there, spend their money there.

If car park spaces are reduced, the obvious question is how will the town be able to sustain itself? How will the town, when economic times are tough, be in a position to maintain and grow, to allow people to come?

And so to knowing the solution. The most obvious answer is to increase car parking - the maths is simple. But is the solution so simple? See, we live in an age, not just of economic challenges, but of environmental ones, too. If we do the maths, more cars equals more carbon dioxide into the atmosphere. But, for Gloucestershire and its councils, car parks equal cash.

In fact, by 2012, Gloucestershire County Council had raised nearly £30 million from its car parks in three years alone. And yet, at the same time, bus fares have shot through the roof. The thinking is warped.

To me, with this problem, this one of cars, of economics, the solution should not be one of skewed, short-term budget gain, but of long-term development. And that means only one thing: better public transport. Instead of focussing on cars, we should be – the government should be – focussing on creating the best public transport system possible, one where workers can travel to a rural town like Wotton without needing a car – or a car park.

Transport should be subsidised. It should not, like my one-mile journey from Dursley to Cam, cost over £1.50 per trip. Better public transport is the right solution. The maths is simple.