Further to comments about the inappropriate use of council tax to fund reports by consultants, I have just read through the Royston Urban Transport Plan (stage two), produced by consultants for Hertfordshire County Council at the behest of central governm

Further to comments about the inappropriate use of council tax to fund reports by consultants, I have just read through the Royston Urban Transport Plan (stage two), produced by consultants for Hertfordshire County Council at the behest of central government. It is a very depressing document which pushes the anti-motorist agenda to ridiculous lengths.

Page one gives the game away with the statement that the "primary aim of the plan is to promote more sustainable modes of transport". Had they been allowed to do so, the council's own officers could have visited Royston for a day or two and drawn up a sensible list of recommendations at minimal cost to the taxpayer.

We would then have been spared comments such as "Some people do not carry cash, which causes a problem when paying for parking". Are we expecting a visit by the Queen in the near future? Motorists "circulating around the road network looking for free and convenient parking" are treated as criminals.

A "key objective of the Town Centre Strategy is to encourage people to stay longer", which is very laudable, but Royston will never compete with tourist hotspots such as Cambridge, and to "reduce the supply of public parking in the town centre" will only drive away the passing trade which is so vital to retailers.

The report is packed full of facts and figures, produced at great expense no doubt, plus many recommendations, including one to widen the footpath in Fish Hill by removing the on street parking. I wonder if the consultants bothered to work out how many of the pedestrians using Fish Hill were motorists using the free parking. I fear not.

All the distances quoted in the report are measured in "meters" not metres, and residents of Beldam Avenue have been consigned to Bedlam. Combined with irresponsible recommendation to encourage people to walk alongside the A10, this report is proof that we have all been banged up in the politically correct madhouse.

The county council has been told by the Government that next year they will be required to produce a zero increase budget, and they have made serious efforts to address the funding issues now. Let us all hope that by this time next year all consultants have been consigned to the scrap heap and the money spent on more urgent problems.

Peter McMeekin

Blacksmiths Lane

Reed