Sir, I would like to correct Councillor Bhatia’s comments as reported in last week’s Peeblesshire News regarding the Cardrona 20mph pilot.

We submitted a petition signed by the majority of households in Cardrona for a two-year safety pathfinder project for a 20mph limit.

Brian Young, networks manager within environment and infrastructure at Scottish Borders Council, i.e. top roads honcho, wrote a recommendation along the lines of it could work well in Cardrona and suggested that the roads department work up associated costs for presentation to the environment and infrastructure committee on December 5, 2013 for their decision on implementation.

This committee rejected the project for reasons such as: It would set a precedent; and the cost.

We, therefore, never ran a pilot despite Councillor Bhatia’s statement that we tried it and it didn’t work.

Part of our argument was that we would have 70,000 walkers and cyclists per annum using the shared pathway through Cardrona and the 100 plus children of Cardrona play outside on the Green, in the streets by their houses and they all walk to and from the village hall or village shop for their school buses.

Your readers may be interested to know that the Scotland on Sunday on August 18, 2013 carried an article on the Edinburgh pilot scheme in the south side of Edinburgh over 25 miles of streets. Initial results show there were fewer accidents and better conditions for walkers and cyclists in the trial area.

Edinburgh Council is now considering extending the 20mph to all residential and shopping streets and even some main roads. Transport Scotland said that once the trial has been fully evaluated it would advise other councils on how to replicate Edinburgh’s success.

This is an extract from a Scottish Government publication from 2006: “Many traffic authorities are now implementing 20mph speed limits and 20 mph zones. This is encouraged and supported by the executive. Since July 1999, the Road Traffic Regulation Act 1984 (Amendment) Order 1999 (S.I. 1999/1608) has given traffic authorities the power to introduce 20mph speed limits and zones without obtaining the consent of Scottish Ministers. A range of options is available to local authorities.” Once again we are seeing that SBC are more concerned about their budgets than the safety of their residents, visitors and children.

I am, etc.

Brian McCrow Cardrona