I read with interest the statement by Paul Mathieson, Southend Council’s manager for transport policy and planning, that pedestrians and cyclists sharing space with motorists is safe, as at City beach and Victoria Gateway (June 10).

I would like to ask why we have been inundated with cycle paths all over our town?

Surely, if it is safer to share space, then we do not need these cycle paths, or indeed pavements.

Is this just another example of our council or its officers opening their mouths without engaging the brain, or have they just been wasting our money on schemes thought up for self-aggrandisement?

I can assure them their names will go down in local history, but not for the reasons they believe.

I look forward to the next step in improving Southend. Could it be the removal of pavements throughout the borough, for safety reasons?

Henry Macdonald
Fairmead Avenue
Westcliff