Sir.-I read with interest Mr Day's letter last Friday about our "Hump-Free" campaign.

Road humps are an issue that concern a great many people in Basingstoke. The 1,600 signatures against the Pack Lane humps are a testament to this.

I have no doubt that road engineers give professional thought to the positioning of humps. It is, however, clear from our campaign that local people are not effectively involved when traffic-calming proposals are discussed.

If they were, it is unlikely that we would have a bus stop on a hump in Brighton Hill, or the humps in Pack Lane which have caused personal injury to pedestrians crossing the road at night.

I think more politicians need to listen and understand that residents know their street better than anyone else.

That certainly seems a worthwhile campaign to me.

-Maria Miller, Basingstoke Conservative Prospective Parliamentary Candidate.

Sir.-It is hard to have an informed view about speed humps or any other element in the matter of so-called "traffic calming".

Authorities seem to spend our money on these simply because they can.

All human activity involves some degree of danger and the car is essential to our modern way of life. Official concern for road safety may be quite proper.

However, regulating public behaviour, whether by the imposition of laws or by other means, requires an essential degree of public consent, which cannot, and should not, be taken for granted, as instanced by the poll tax and fox-hunting issues.

This element of consent comes into focus with the development of speed cameras, sneaky police operations and the building of expensive and frustrating highway obstacles.

Many hesitate to say publicly that they sometimes resent the way traffic laws and associated measures are imposed, because of a fear of seeming to support law-breaking and recklessness.

Far more information about the activities and motives of such bodies as road safety committees is required. When a new restriction or expenditure is contemplated, we should be given information in an unmissable fashion, not only about costs but also the evidence that a significant problem actually exists.

We should know its exact nature and why the authorities think the proposed initiatives will create an effective solution that will enjoy wide public respect.

-Frank Wallace, Conifer Close, Baughurst.

Sir.-Maria Miller's campaign to halt, and even reverse, the council's obsession with "speed" humps must be applauded.

As a Winchester Road resident, I am amazed at the short-sighted methods for calming traffic in the area.

For example, I travel the M3 every day, using exit six (Black Dam). To get to my home I have three choices - use the ring road to the Winchester Road roundabout (huge delays between 4.30pm and 6pm), use Bounty Road via Hackwood Road/Southern Road (new road humps) or use New Road/Sarum Hill junction into Winchester Road (the council introduced "traffic-calming" measures to reduce the volume of traffic on this route, yet seems to be encouraging its use through ill-thought-out measures).

I have a simple solution - build the flyovers at each of the roundabouts that had provision made for them in the '60s (Winchester Road, Hackwood Road and Houndmills roundabouts, Black Dam and more).

This would relieve the volume of traffic that uses residential roads in trying to find the quickest way around town. Then there would a reduced need for traffic-calming measures.

When you are continually confronted with methods designed to impede your progress on what should be free-flowing roads, it's little wonder people speed.

-M Veitch, Winchester Road, Basingstoke.

Sir.-I fully support Maria Miller's opposition to traffic-calming measures. There are too many of them and many are badly positioned. I see that one chicane with poor visibility in Hatch Warren was removed. Doesn't the council check positions on the road? But it's not just a case of traffic calming, but also the use of pavers and setts, and excessive amount of road signs. Take, for example, where the Clid-desden Road ends in an underpass under the ringway south on the town side. A large area of surfaced road for cars to turn around has been replaced with setts. It looks very nice, but is it necessary? How much did it cost? There was an above-inflation rise in council tax this year, and another forcast for next. So why is our money spent on this type of work? Does the council ever think about value for money? -David White, Coates Close, Basingstoke.