THERE has been a lot of coverage in the Courier and social media about speeding on Brodie Road, Dunbar.

There are a lot of people who detest the 20mph limit and I certainly find it completely ludicrous. Unfortunately, it has proven to be not PC to voice these views, and many are quietly grumbling about it in the background.

As a resident of Meikle Park Road, I travel for most of the length down Brodie Road on a daily basis. It is over half a mile in length, a wide road with clear visibility, and dual wide pavement either side, with frequent crossing barriers along the entire stretch of road near street turn-offs. So why the 20mph, many of us wonder?

The proportionally slow 20mph is causing a lot of frustration for many. It is not practical, or safe. Since the 20mph limit was put in place, it has been causing a build-up of traffic and back-to-back cars. It is actually quite difficult to stick to 20mph, and you end up looking at your dashboard speedometer rather than the actual car window. Surely it is better to focus on the road?

The road has not even been an accident blackspot and must be one of the safest roads in East Lothian! This needless limit has quite different views from different segments of the local population. A lot of people who don’t use the road seem to support it. Those near the end of it are being adversely affected. And the local community groups are focused on their own agendas.

The way in which the limit came about is a bit controversial also. A local group got agreement from the local authority to survey residents with a view to putting the limit in. However, it is very difficult to find anyone who knew about this survey, let alone anyone who was actually surveyed.

It is not a healthy situation to let local groups interfere with legal road limits in this way. I feel it is no exaggeration to state this farce is up there with the beach parking nonsense. The police, who are being pressured to police the road, surely have better things to do than deal with drivers doing 28mph on Brodie Road. It is an all-round waste of resources that are tight in times of austerity.

It really surprises me when I continually see the press and social media coverage from the Community and Police Partnership (CAPP), police and individuals regarding their shock at the number of “speeders” witnessed. The limit really is so ridiculous and unnecessary speeding is the norm, and more are speeding than not speeding is the truth of the situation. We can only dream of some common sense and a review of this limit. My suggestion would be that a 30mph limit is far more appropriate (and safer all-round).

It would be nice if some of the local groups did something constructive with Brodie Road, rather than create unwelcome and badly researched speed limits. For instance, there is a section of streetlights on the road that have not been operational for sometime now. Or the obstructive roadside concrete mess a house builder has left behind, or that Brodie Road has been in place for years now without middle road markings on much of it.

Jonathan Livingstone, Meikle Park Road, Dunbar