THERE have been a number of letters in the Daily Echo on cycleways, good, bad or indifferent.

As a local authority councillor I’m in favour of cycleways and I try to get them implemented wherever I can.

I managed to introduce a cycleway in Upton up to the double roundabout.

The council would only allow a reference line, thinking of car drivers wanting to park near a house – a bad idea.

I have been working on a cycleway from the double roundabout at Poole Road to Upton House for the last four years, costing £100,000 which in drawings terms is ready for examination. If this cycleway is acceptable and introduced I then have a problem. The present cycleway lines are worn-out and hard to see and there is no money to have them repainted.

Why? The money for cycleways is government money to have them installed but no money for their upkeep.

Are we going mad in this country? The council states cycleways are an asset of growing importance, so we introduce them, people feel safe to cycle, but when the white lines fade away and the cycleway no longer exists not only do we lose the cycleway but all that money and cyclists are back where they started from.

I would like the public to be aware who is responsible for this crazy set-up and it’s not the council members. I would very much like to know if any other local authority council is working within this crazy setup. We all hear said, ‘give with one hand and take with the other’ – this set-up sits well within that statement.

CLLR FRED DRANE, Martingale Close, Upton