Just how desperate is the Tory party if they think that this latest gimmick of telling local authorities they must take into account the opinions of local residents before imposing any more crackpot low traffic neighbourhoods will be any help?

All the local authorities will do once the new guidance is issued is put out a survey, take a ‘democratic’ decision of councillors to reject the results telling them to shove the proposed scheme, and then do it anyway.

How about making it a legal requirement for a binding referendum on these issues instead?

Or better still, strip the local authorities of all powers to impose these schemes in the first place. It would be quite easy to do, popular and might force councils to start spending their time and our money on actually running the things they are supposed to, such as collecting the bins on time.

Dr Scott Marmion, Woodthorpe, York