Patience please!

SIR - I am tired of people misunderstanding and closing their ears as soon as they hear the words suggesting a ‘pedestrian-friendly zone in Fore Street, Sidmouth’.

Of course, no-one wants the town cut off to cars! The proposal is merely for private vehicles not to park in Fore Street without a disabled disc. Delivery vehicles and emergency services should still have access. The cars need to drive slowly and carefully and give way to pedestrians.

Mr Hugo Swire is right to be cautious, so let us stop making wild assumptions that trade will cease.

Seaton is a special case and there are several reasons for the drop in trade there; it is not typical.

For a long time, Old Fore Street in Sidmouth has been ‘pedestrian-friendly’ and the traders generally like it.

So, let us take a long, cool, cautious look and avoid panicking at mere suggestions.

When we have all calmed down, something beneficial to everyone might come of it.

Miriam Brown

‘Karenza’, 6 Lennox Avenue, Sidmouth