H. FOSTER suggests that the traffic summit I have called for in the New Year has come too late (Letters, December 24). Apparently, I should have been able to forecast the gridlock years ago.

As I am not a member of either the council's planning or highways committees, it is difficult to understand how I am to blame for decisions which Mr Foster regards as wrong.

Indeed, I am not sure that members of those committees, or the officers advising them, were wrong. I can imagine the storm of protest from local residents if the council had refused permission for a Marks and Spencer store in Prestwich.

I agree that its location is far from ideal, but the choice facing the council was that it went there or nowhere - not some better alternative option.

Another example of criticism now directed at the council concerns parking along Bury New Road. This decision was only made following pressure from the area board as a result of consultations with residents and traders. I agree that this decision should now be reviewed but hindsight is a wonderful thing.

Mr Foster and his neighbours are angry at the impact on their properties of the construction work currently being carried out to build the new Jewish Grammar School. I have raised their concerns with the governors of the school and will do so again now that I have been made aware that the situation has not improved.

However, I assume that Mr Foster is not suggesting that the school should have been denied the opportunity to benefit from excellent new facilities. Despite Mr Foster's assertions, the irony is that in many ways, we are victims of our own success. Prestwich is now one of the most sought-after locations in Greater Manchester for families seeking somewhere to live.

We are close to the motorway network, the Metrolink, and renowned for having excellent nurseries, schools and colleges. We retain a strong sense of community and are benefiting from the facilities such as the now much-improved St Mary's Park.

It is true that Prestwich is changing, and that can be challenging and sometimes uncomfortable for those of us who have lived here all our lives.

Current levels of significant public and private sector investment are better than the decay and decline which was a reality only a few years ago.

I hope the traffic summit will lead to some practical proposals which can improve the current situation.

Throughout my 14 years of public service - initially as a local councillor and now an MP - I have never shirked tackling local issues which are of serious concern to my constituents.

IVAN LEWIS,

MP Bury South