WITH regard to Bewdley traffic calming, the Shuttle/Times & News correspondents have not "lost the plot" as Frank Baillie claims (Letters, February 21).

Has he lost touch with opinion in Bewdley?

Have alternatives to the proposed traffic calming in Bewdley really been considered, or did his visit to Gloucester reveal only more of the same humps and bumps?

If he were truly interested in alternatives, maybe he should have visited Kent or Yorkshire where school buses were the selected alternative.

Does support for the current plan really exist?

He says the "silent majority" supports the proposals.

If they are silent, how does he know that they favour the scheme?

If he is judging local opinion on the "questionnaires" provided by Worcestershire County Council, these were based on loaded questions - eg "Which type of hump do you prefer? rather than "Do you want speed bumps?"

At the end of the last public meeting (June 2001) we were promised that another meeting would be held and the scheme would not be implemented without the majority support of local residents.

This idea seems to have been abandoned. Why? If there is confidence in support for the scheme, why is there reluctance to hold another public meeting?

We do all want safer roads. The measures proposed just aren't the best option.

There are alternatives such as speed cameras, policing, school buses, three or four-way stop signs, parking within school grounds etc, and people like Mr Baillie should be looking at these.

Funds have been found for the proposed scheme; they are limited to that scheme; and that's why it is being forced through.

DAVID AND JANET BLOCK

Richmond Road

Bewdley