I do not support any specific political party but I do support improvements in pedestrian provision. I was dismayed to discover that not a single York Liberal Democrat councillor voted in favour of the motion to abandon phase two of the Beckfield Lane pavement cycle track (Cycle path “may put old in peril”, The Press, February 8).

Would a Liberal Democrat councillor be kind enough to explain why they wish this scheme to go ahead? Is it because pedestrians in their own wards have asked their councillors to arrange for their pavements to be converted into shared use with cyclists? In which case, fair enough. Or is it because party political reasons are considered more important than the wishes of elderly and disabled pedestrians who want to use the dozen shops on Beckfield Lane?

If the conversion goes ahead some £500,000 of public money, in total, will have been squandered on a scheme that upsets and intimidates pedestrians. The money could have been used for urgently needed cycling road safety improvements.

I telephoned the Department for Transport last week, and was told that their current advice to councils continues to be against the creation of segregated pavements in residential areas, unless all efforts to improve road safety have been exhausted.

I have discovered that no disability equality impact assessment (EIA) regarding pedestrian facilities has been done in York. This is at a time when many concerns have been raised about mobility scooters; access for blue-badge holders and the adoption of shared use spaces which include pedestrian precincts and segregated pavements.

Is it possible to be told why a disability EIA has not been done? A proper impartial appraisal might have prevented the farce of the Beckfield Lane segregated pavement.

Dee Bush, Beckfield Lane, Acomb, York. • I have always been proud of York’s reputation as a cycling city, so I read with disbelief that the Labour Party is opposing the Beckfield Lane cycle path.

Coun Horton is opposed to the path because of a perceived risk to pedestrians. A cycle path has already opened providing a safe route from Beckfield Lane to Manor School. There have been no problems with this path for pedestrians since it opened, so why not extend the path down the rest of Beckfield Lane? This would provide a safe route for parents and children wanting to cycle to the new Energise Swimming Pool.

The Labour Government is providing funding for the Cycling City fund, so why are Labour councillors opposed to the spending of this money. Coun Horton says the path is not needed because there has been only one minor accident on Beckfield Lane in the last three years.

The reason for this might be that parents and children are unwilling to cycle on the road because they do not regard it as safe. So people are being deterred from using cycles when their use should be encouraged. Is Coun Horton saying that we need to wait for a serious accident or death before the path is given the go-ahead?

Coun Merritt wrote in the Press (Transport record, Letters, February 8) praising the record of the Labour Party in York on sustainable transport measures. Coun Horton’s views will set back sustainable transport in York.

Peter Ashton, Kingsway West, York.

• I read with wry amusement the two Acomb councillors’ objections to a cycle track in their ward. Could it be that al long last councillors are actually starting to listen to the views of the people who put them there?

If so, they are about ten years too late. The arguments used in The Press on February 8 could (and in fact were) used in opposition to at least 90 per cent of the cycle tracks installed in our beautiful city in the past.

These arguments were usually ignored in favour of political dogma and the pandering to the wishes of a sacred minority. Not forgetting of course the creation of the trebling of pollution levels, as traffic has been brought to a standstill.

Hopefully councillors are now starting to heed the views of the people who pay them. Sadly, a more likely explanation is the current political situation.

Liz Edge, Parkside Close, York.