WITH regard to the campaign by residents of Parkhills Road, Bury, who are demanding action to rectify their traffic problems, may I say that they are not the only ones whose quality of life is being adversely affected.

Residents in Wellington Road and the side streets off it are not happy with the situation. Speak to the householders in Nelson Street, as I have done, and they tell you that the vibrations caused by the speed hump on Parkhills Road, near to the school, can be felt in their properties.

Redvales councillors hold surgeries on the first Saturday in the month and they are usually very sparsely attended. If you did not know the reason why, it would be a surprise to discover that in excess of 40 people attended this meeting and all it seems were from Parkhills Road. The truth of the matter is that Mr Law made sure that all residents of Parkhills Road, and only that road, were informed by letter of the intention to raise the matter and that Councillor Perkins, who is actually a councillor representing Radcliffe South Ward and is chairman of the highways and traffic management committee, would answer questions. It was not a very democratic way to conduct a meeting when councillors are, after all, elected to represent all residents.

I am fully aware that the monthly meetings are open to all residents, as I usually go myself, but in this instance I did not. If I had been aware of what was happening, I would have made my concerns known and would have advised as many people as possible in the Fishpool area to attend. I hope that the next surgery, on the first Saturday in September, is advertised as one which will again consider the traffic problems in Fishpool and that Coun Perkins, and anyone else who wants to, can attend.

I would like to elaborate on the "road diversions" mentioned. To be precise, Mr Law and Mr Lomas are advocating the closure of Parkhills Road at the Heywood Street end, thus sending all through traffic down Wellington Road. This would improve the situation for those people living on Parkhills between Heywood Street and Market Street, which by coincidence is where Mr Law and Mr Lomas live, but would do nothing to improve the quality of life of anyone else. In fact, it would have a detrimental effect for people living in Market Street, between Parkhills and Wellington Road, and on Wellington Road itself with, in my opinion, little or no improvement on the rest of Parkhills.

I accepted the job of a "troubleshooter" to represent the interests of all the residents in Fishpool and will continue to do so. But I will contest any moves to force traffic into Wellington Road by means of closure.

Finally, may I say that to suggest traffic lights at the junction of Wellington Road and Manchester Road is not on. If Coun Perkins was to study the traffic flow on Manchester Road at peak times and when the school crossing is in operation, he would soon realise why it would not be practicable to have two sets of lights and a school crossing in a 200-yard section of a main road.

A. WITHINGTON,

Wellington Road, Bury.