IS Councillor Tom Sherratt so arrogant as to assume that locals haven't the nous to rumble his assertion that letters were received "from all over the country" but not, presumably, from Sawbridgeworth, Herts, home base of the fortunate developer (Journal, March 16).

How did these altruistic, objective strangers learn of the proposal to subvert an established recreational area in to a mall?

Did the Metro in a rare moment of openness advertise their intentions nationally?

Where and what was the total response received? All letters attached to Metro handouts at public meetings were local.

The councillor not seeing the petition doesn't negate its existence or worth.

Hard surfacing a grassed area won't prevent dog owners who allow fouling of public places from continuing to do so. Due to continued house building Lowton is now more geographically diverse than ever.

The relatively small numbers that live by choice south of the A580 are late-owners of houses which pre-date its opening 65 years ago or newer ones. Building a 230 sq metre "centre" on the Golborne boundary won't integrate this allegedly "divided" society. Rain this side of the Pennines is the norm. If it deters councillors from disembarking from transport as stated by the Metro spokesman, why bother travelling?

That the depth of first hand knowledge one assumes would be pivotal to decision making is weather dependent lends support to the opinion that site visits are a window dressing exercise. This issue is a classic example of how our elected representative via a mix of stonewalling and distortion foists his agenda on us, the ratepayers -- an inverted form of democracy whereby objectors with substantial public support are allowed two minutes via a spokesperson, M Eccles, being addressed by Cllr Sherratt.

In view of their complete disregard for local opinion and stated government policy with respect to the conservation of recreational areas as defined in D of E document PPG 17, let's hope that normally loyal voters will defect at the coming local election.

S.Powell

Rosedale Avenue

Lowton