I HAVE hesitated to write regarding the new one-way system in Otley, not wanting to seem overly self-serving (what’s bad for traders on Bondgate might be good overall for the town). However, the recent letters have prompted me to do so.

Both Caroline Davis and H Thompson’s letters touched on the reason why it is pretty disastrous for our business. To quote Ms Davis: “I always do my shopping in Otley... but if it means a queue hell this is not going to happen.”

And she is not the only one to think like this. The queues at rush hour and on Saturdays are appalling and have already made a difference to our shop. Visitors to the town only have to suffer such congestion a couple of times before they decide to give the town a miss. It reminds me of the queues that Otley suffered a number of years ago, with a rolling programme of road works that went on for six months or so. It took quite some time for visitors to return in the same numbers.

The reason that Walkergate and Charles Street are so quiet is that cars normally turning off Bondgate, to go down Charles Street, now have to turn right onto Crossgate and queue at the lights. As Bondgate is not wide enough for a dedicated right turn space, all those right-turning cars are holding up the normal flow of traffic that is heading towards Kirkgate.

Even workers here in the bakery are meeting their lifts at the bottom of Walkergate/Manchester Square – because, basically, if there’s nowhere to stop on Bondgate then you’ve had it! Next stop Leeds...

There are the delivery lorries that service the two restaurants, two pubs, bakery and bed shop that lie within close proximity of each other on Bondgate. Frankly, for them, it’s been a nightmare – but even worse is they’ve had to stop wherever possible and make the traffic worse. We all would like to see a world with less traffic on the roads. However, peremptory changes are not the answer. The smooth flow of traffic is absolutely crucial for small towns such as ours.

Otley has a proud tradition of supporting small businesses such as ours and the centre has a wonderful array of independent shops. Let’s encourage people to come in and use them, for all our sakes.

Sally Hinchliffe Bondgate Bakery, Otley