I WISH to protest at the reporting of the safety measures, speed humps and bollards on a road to the pavilion in Moor Park.

Headlines are a key to setting the tone of a story for readers and this read: 'What a Waste - Moor Park plan is pointless: councillor' (Citizen, February 3).

Then there followed what was virtually a press release from Coun Moulding and Coun Whittle and a negative tone which continued throughout the article. Moor Park lies entirely in the Moor Park ward which has three Labour councillors, Frank De Molfetta and Dick Evans as borough councillors and Brian Johnson as county councillor.

The Moor Park branch of the Labour Party has long considered the issue of cars and the safety of pedestrian users of Moor Park.

At first we considered a ban on cars but moved away from the idea. A ban on cars would have to be enforceable. Would enforcing a ban mean a trip fence around the park at enormous cost, plus a barrier or gates at either end of Moor Park Avenue? When I last saw Michael Moulding he was at great pains to insist he didn't want a very extensive, high cost trip fence, yet how else can a ban on cars be enforced?

In Moor Park Avenue there is a nursery/play group and consultants whose patients could be elderly or infirm. Imagine the press outcry if they, and the disabled, didn't have access.

What about the emergency services if a footballer breaks a leg or a child injures itself? Are we to have a permanent attendant to raise the barrier or open the gates to exceptions to the rule? At what cost?

Moor Park is a leisure facility and I want amateur footballers using it.

I understand the fears that cars parked in Garstang Road might not be safe. A ban on cars would mean they try to park in St Thomas Road near the old Park school and tennis courts.

The council gets revenue from the amateur footballers so they are helping the borough and not just being helped by the borough.

I've made clear the impracticality and cost involved in implementing a ban on cars, but the leisure committee took humps, bollards, signing and firm instructions from the amateur footballers on the issue of speeding, were an attempt to make safety a priority and to reach a satisfactory compromise.

The residents of Ripon Street, Trafford Street and Eldon Street will be offered several options and they will decide what they want.

John Collins

Symonds Road

Preston

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