THE residents along Bewdley riverside have been invited to a meeting with the Environment Agency to iron out any problems that might occur when the flood prevention scheme starts on Severn Side South next year.

The agency says it wants to avoid the kind of argument between the residents of Severn Side North and the planners as to whether the road should be pedestrianised or not".

I would like to put the record straight. After a Highways Partnership Forum meeting last year I received a phone call from Councillor Frank Baillie who said it had been agreed Severn Side North should be pedestrianised.

This message was immediately passed around to all concerned.

So we were all amazed and appalled when we received a report of this year's forum meeting, held in August, to hear that the road was now going to remain a public thoroughfare. This is in spite of it now being just a single lane road.

At this last meeting Councillor Baillie was armed with some 500 signatures from townspeople and regular visitors, together with personal letters from residents of this road.

Bewdley Town Council last year voted unanimously for pedestrianisation, as had the civic society and chamber of trade. They had all written to the forum.

So what went wrong at this year's meeting? There are now four new members on the forum - all Health concern, as is Councillor Baillie, who declares that he is all for pedestrianisation. So why did they not back him, or take any notice of the petitions.

What's happened to people power!

MRS PAT JONES

Severn Side North

Bewdley