A COUNCIL leaflet has been pushed through my door asking volunteers to cut back the overgrown and "non-native" rhododendron bushes in Corporation Park, Blackburn.
While I'm in favour of the revamping of Corporation Park, I feel that this onslaught on the local flora is a little misguided.
The council would be making better use of its resources and volunteers in tackling a much more disturbing and menacing "non-native" problem, namely so-called asylum seekers. I hesitate to refer to them as asylum seekers the only thing they seem to be seeking are easy to come by state handouts.
I've recently returned to Blackburn and I'm astounded by the number of economic migrants living here and how disproportionate the numbers are compared to other local areas. One only need to walk down King William Street to see mobs of swarthy young men in expensive leather jackets using the very latest mobile phones. I'd like to see them returned to the country they came from, but I realise that this is trickier than the quick-fixers of the BNP would have us believe.
I think the only viable solutions would either be strict containment of economic migrants, or widespread dispersal. I've noticed on trips to other nearby areas that there are hardly any of these people so maybe a few of them could go to Darwen.
Alternatively, the people of the Ribble Valley could be given a taster of life in Blackburn prior to the inevitable boundary change by having a few dozen Kurds relocated to Mellor, Wilpshire and other semi-rural suburbs.
Alternatively, if a policy of containment was to be implemented, there is abundant vacant land within the grounds of British Aerospace at Samlesbury where a processing camp could be established. The area does have the advantage of already having extensive fences and security features.
So, my message to Blackburn Council is to lay off the rhododendrons and get stuck in to the real 'non-native' problem that afflicts the once fair town of Blackburn.
SILAS WILSON, Gibraltar Street, Blackburn.
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