COUNCILLOR Robert Wilkinson is relatively new, and his enthusiasm does him credit.

But the vexed issue of road humps, and traffic calming generally, is a bit more complicated than that. To begin with, people are not always entirely consistent when they turn their mind to traffic calming. They tend to want traffic calming in and around the areas where they live, but not where they'd like to drive their cars (even if other people live there, and would also like traffic calming). And there is not a traffic calming scheme in Bolton which was not fervently demanded by local residents, long before it was installed.

And there is a backlog of demanded schemes, even now, numbering into three figures, and more requests for them arrive every week.

Then, there is the question of what works. Speed humps work, even if buses and emergency vehicles don't like them. So do chicanes, but both delay large vehicles, emergency or otherwise, and speed humps are reasonably inexpensive and good value for money.

Some other measures, like speed cushions and speed reduction markings on the carriageway, work less well. Probably the most effective piece of traffic calming in Bolton is the scheme at the top of Mornington Road - I drive through it regularly, but it is elaborate, and it cost a fortune.

There is a conflict of interest between what motorists, as a breed, want, and what people in residential areas want. But if Cllr Wilkinson is assiduous in the defence of his constituents, I can guarantee that, before long, he will find himself pressing the case for effective traffic calming in his ward, just as I did. Mind you, if I was a Tory councillor in a marginal ward, I might be trying to woo the motorist vote a bit. Poor old Tories - not doing very well at all. Got to start making new friends somewhere, I suppose.

Peter Johnston

Kendal Road

Bolton