Stuck with whatever folly the council suggests

sir – Matthew Scudamore (Letters, August 20) is lucky that consultation is starting in Birmingham over road changes in Kings Heath (albeit late in the day). In the Darley Abbey suburb of Derby, the work is going ahead without any consultation at all. If I wanted to lop a branch off a tree with a protection order, it would require more prior public consultation than the road scheme that is being introduced.

When I asked the reason for this undemocratic haste, I was told that councils have to act quickly in order to get government money (that is to say, our money) for the project. However, I was assured that the project will be “monitored” for effectiveness. I am at a loss to know how this will be done, given that there has been no monitoring of the current situation (no time, you see). The truth is that we will be stuck with the scheme as it is now. Terry Lloyd

Derby sir – Greenwich council has exploited the coronavirus crisis to introduce a new traffic-management scheme.

Despite the council’s initial attempt to avoid any consultation, residents spent a great deal of time and effort discussing proposals over the last two years.

The council had been silent since last November – until a letter reached residents on August 14, advising that modal filters were to be implemented on August 20. So ill-considered is the proposal that the council is intent on removing previous traffic safety measures (one-way restrictions on a sightless corner). Responses pointing out the risk this poses have gone unanswered.

While these actions shouldn’t come as a surprise, the refusal to listen to residents leads one to the inescapable conclusion that the council regards its constituents with contempt. Edward Halliday

London SE10