Local issues can have a significant impact on the 10,000-plus small business-owners and self-employed people that form the membership of FSB Wales.

One issue that impacts on our members on a regular basis that of car-parking.

Welsh Government guidance clearly sets out that local authorities are not supposed to use car-parking as a cash cow.

But in these austere times we have seen many councils look to put up the charges for parking within our town centres.

With this in mind I was interested to read a report recently conducted for the Welsh Government on the impact of car parking charges on town centre footfall.

One of the key recommendations of the report was that local authorities should be encouraged to consider car parking charges, 'in the broadest possible sense, particularly if their primary goal in changing them is to generate revenue'.

Our members tell us time and time again of the impact that rising town centre parking charges are having on their businesses. The report rightly notes that this evidence is anecdotal. However, it does come from those who are at the sharp end, and can literally count the cost at their tills.

Of course there are other ways that people can get into our towns. Public transport links - in particular bus services - are very important, and there is also a significant role for facilities for those that wish to cycle in.

But it is clear from the research that the car remains the main way in which shoppers access our town centres.

If too many car-using shoppers are displaced to out-of-town sites then there is a real danger that the mix of services our town centres provide will be lost, leaving a poorer offer for those who do not have access to a car, and causing those that have a car to travel further afield for the services they want.