YOUR article about a "discriminatory" traffic system (Kensington & Chelsea News, February 26) at Holbein Place is itself unfortunately guilty of discriminating against the application of common sense.

It appears to assume that drivers will always stop at red lights and zebra crossings and that pedestrians have no awareness of movements around them. It ignores the fact that similar installations have worked well in other parts of the borough and presumes that all existing traffic management schemes and regulations work perfectly, when they clearly do not.

I have recently taken over responsibility for Highways and Traffic policy in the borough and have agreed that we will monitor the new scheme carefully to identify any problems. Some fresh thinking based on the successful implementation of alternatives in other countries does not seem unreasonable to me.

For much of the 20th century, there was little expenditure on drains, sewers, railways, water pipes or underground stations.

We are now paying the price in hastily put-together, catch-up schemes which are undoubtedly much more costly to the taxpayer in PFI financing costs and other hidden charges than good quality, on-going investment programmes would have been.

Cllr Nicholas Paget-Brown Cabinet Member for Transport and Environment