MOTORISTS may be pleased about the new roundabout at Thurstaston, but cyclists are not so happy.

This is because cyclists are extremely vulnerable when negotiating roundabouts. As part of the Merseyside Transport Partnership, Wirral signed up to the Local Transport Plan, known as LTP, which contains the following wording under the heading "Supporting Targets": "the authorities will methodically apply cycle audit procedure to new highway schemes (including maintenance) and all planning proposals with highway implications by 2005 and ongoing".

Cycle audits are meant to ensure that safety issues for cyclists are addressed by planners when designing highway schemes. I am a member of a cycling group which, with other groups, meets regularly with Wirral Transport representatives at cycle forums. When we became aware of the new roundabout development, we asked to see the cycle audit, but without success. In February 2010 I used Freedom of Information legislation to eventually find that no cycle audit had been performed.

A senior member of Wirral's Technical Services department sent me documentation from a "safety audit" which had been performed by independent consultants. This identified several cycling safety issues, one of which, the official admitted, has not been adequately addressed within the budgetary constraints of the project.

So Wirral is not following the LTP procedures which it agreed to, and is not enabling cycling groups to participate in highway development planning via the forums specifically set up to enable this to happen.

Chris Beazer, Frankby