I REFER to T Randle's letter (Shuttle, April 5) on the subject of the Stourport Relief Road, and agree wholeheartedly with the majority of the content.

What right does the town centre forum have in deciding whether the road is built or otherwise? And how noble of them to "agree" on having a public consultation.

It will be interesting to see what form this "consultative document" takes and just how the views of the residents of Stourport will be gathered.

Being consulted about anything that happens in Stourport will be a rarity indeed.

Recent articles in this newspaper have included comments from people, myself included, about the congestion that continued illegal parking on double yellow lines in the High Street creates.

One particular article springs to mind when a local businessman had the audacity to suggest that, in his opinion, the county council favoured motorists against shop owners and that taking three minutes to get from York Street to the Swan Hotel was quite acceptable.

This selfish, pretentious, condescending attitude typifies the way this whole issue, and others, are dealt with.

Do the town centre forum members really believe that we, the residents of Stourport, live here purely for the benefit of local shopkeepers?

Do they not think that we have the right to complain about events which affect our daily lives?

In my letter, published in the October 8 Shuttle, I welcomed the introduction of new parking restrictions, but expressed my doubts that "the law would be vigorously upheld" as stated by the Highways Partnership.

The daily gridlock continues simply because motorists who continue to blatantly ignore the parking restrictions know that being booked is highly unlikely. So why isn't the law being upheld?

As far as the relief road is concerned, I believe it is doomed to failure.

The proposed route will do little to alleviate traffic problems.

For example, there is substantial traffic using the Areley Kings and Dunley roads destined for Bewdley and beyond.

Will these commuters turn right at the junction by Walshes Meadow and then do a full circle to get back onto the Bewdley Road? I fear not, and would suggest that with the present road network, a pedestrianised High Street, as suggested by T Randle, is not feasible.

A full orbital by-pass is, in my opinion, the only solution.

We have to bear in mind of course that it will be at least six or seven years before the new by-pass is built.

By that time many new dwellings will have been built, each with two or three-car families living in them.

M THACKERAY

Ryvere Close, Stourport