Letters, contributions and comments sent in from Times’ readers this week.

Give us our spaces back

Mary McCarthy, Harvist Road, Kilburn, writes:

There are unnecessary yellow lines and dropped kerbs outside bricked up walls and completely redundant garages in Peploe Road, NW6.

I’ve lived in Harvist Road for 50 years and I know for a fact that these garages have not been used for many, many years.

Parking is difficult to find and when we visit our friends at night we quite often can’t find a space near our home to park when we return.

Recently, we got a parking ticket for parking in front of one of these redundant garages – it was withdrawn when we wrote to the parking division. We were aware that we parked on a yellow line and dropped kerb but my husband has a blue badge because he can’t walk very far.

I want parking to be made permissible on this road. There are at least eight places in Peploe Road.

Many years ago I paid the council for permission to have the kerb dropped and to park our own car in our garden. They took £80 and refused permission as it was a conservation area. They knew this fact when they took my money – which, by the way, I never got back.

No one can park in their gardens in Harvist Road now, which means they badly need as much parking on the street as is available.

What can kids do?

Sian Berry, London Assembly, writes:

The school summer holidays are two weeks away. We’re all concerned to make sure young people have positive options for things to do, but I have checked all the council websites in London and only 11 out of 32 councils are clearly advertising their summer programmes – so how will young people know where to go?

Council funding for youth centres and youth workers has been cut by nearly half since 2011. Parents, guardians and teachers desperately want these opportunities, and where they exist councils should be shouting from the rooftops.