WE WERE sorry to hear of Lisa Scholz's negative experiences of the new Madeira Drive layout as a disabled driver (Letters, Brighton Argus, April 9).

Madeira Drive should be a pleasure to visit, not a misery and it sounds as if her trip was anything but ''safer and more inclusive", which ironically was Brighton and Hove City Council's excuse for undertaking all these expensive, unsolicited and unnecessary works to Madeira Drive.

We have also received feedback that the new Madeira Drive layout is failing in its "safer and more inclusive" remit in other ways.

Insufficient drop-off space for coaches and only one full length and one small coach at a time can park to let visitors alight and disembark in Madeira Drive.

The parking spaces have been slanted the wrong way round so that rather than driving straight into them drivers have to drive past them and then back up into the single line of moving traffic behind them, which means drivers behind, who may be unfamiliar with the city/not have previously encountered this anomaly, need to anticipate this difficulty to give parking vehicles sufficient space to back up.

Motorbike and scooter parking provision has been decimated (both user groups spend a lot of time and money in Madeira Drive).

There is a lack of suitable delivery unloading and taxi drop off spaces to serve Madeira Drive businesses.

There is mounting concern that the Speed Trials (held on Madeira Drive since 1895) will no longer be possible under the new layout, along with other motoring events, which bring vital millions into the local economy.

Emergency vehicles cannot easily access Madeira Drive with only one single carriageway remaining if there should be any vehicular breakdowns or other emergencies.

The works to Madeira Drive started on February 22, 2021, yet the consultation for the Experimental Traffic Order they were executed under did not end until March 4, 2021, for public objections to be lodged. Nor were before and after plans provided to go with the order to facilitate meaningful public consultation, so it was clear what the final layout would look like. We believe these two factors render this a sham consultation.

It is worth noting that Experimental Traffic Orders are supposed to be classed as "temporary" in case they don't work out, yet no date range has been given on TRO-17-2020 to indicate when this "experiment" is supposed to end or be reviewed.

We believe this "experimental" traffic order is already proving a failure in its encroaching EXCLUSION of many of the user groups/stakeholders it needs to serve and Madeira Drive should be returned to a two-way carriageway as it was before the first lockdown without further delay so that these users (economically essential to our city) are not marginalised any further and no further events and customer income is lost to the city. Moreover reducing Madeira Drive to one ill-devised lane will cause congestion, not solve it.

Half of the original Madeira Drive width was already given over to cyclists and walkers some years ago and is as wide as any other area of the promenade/seafront for their use, so there is no discrimination towards them and zero justification to make their part of Madeira Drive any wider than the rest of the seafront.

It is possible to visit Madeira Drive on any given day and see that the previous layout is not oversubscribed by walkers and cyclists, even when sunny. Furthermore when Madeira Terraces is restored that will unlock substantial additional space for pedestrian use on the other side of Madeira Drive including re-opening a full walkway above with spectacular sea vista views.

We will be asking the council to reverse this Traffic Order and return Madeira Drive to its pre-2020 layout as soon as possible as it is already clear it is not working and the contractors are still on site with another month of ruining this prime location of city income generation to go.

This city is going to need every penny of tourist and visitor income it can get post-Covid and it is the council's duty to make it easy and welcoming for visitors and tourists to visit and enjoy our city, particularly as staycations become the trend going forwards and there is a market to be captured.

Laura King and Ollie Wilson

Save Madeira Drive Campaign