I MUST wholeheartedly concur with Sean Stroud’s letter of 24th July, “Expensive mistake”.

I live in the Shirley area and am dismayed by the lack of foresight on the part of this council.

The Avenue and Bassett Road, our main artery into the city, has always been congested and as businesses resume, we will see total mayhem where cycle lanes have suddenly appeared.

We will experience queues backed up for miles onto the motorway, causing a great increase in pollution, as cars sit idling, and great frustration on the part of motorists.

What a wonderful introduction to visitors to our city.

Will this in fact lead to us losing the Boat Show, a great attraction and an important source of income for Southampton?

I would also like to comment on the fact that the council has seen fit to put double yellow lines the length of Hill Lane, thus making The Common inaccessible to the elderly and infirm, once again in favour of the cyclist.

I use the singular term, as even since the introduction of these measures, I rarely see a cyclist.

They are using their common sense in this instance, preferring to ride through The Common, rather than alongside it.

There are many who love to use The Common but who live too far away to walk to it and there is very little parking available at any time of day on side roads.

I have spoken to a number of elderly people who sadly feel that their needs have been overlooked.

As a lifelong supporter of the Labour Party, I feel saddened to see the way in which this Labour council has slid these changes through, without consultation, and their appalling waste of the taxpayers money.

I can only hope that sense will prevail and that, true to their word, they will review the situation and reverse the poor decisions that they have made.

Vivien Unwin

Shirley