AGAINST my better judgement I find myself compelled to respond to Councillor Clarke's letter headed "We're listening and WE will decide".

The term "overweening arrogance" springs to mind. If they are listening constructively, surely they will allow the local populace to decide.

At the recent consultation meeting at Cleworth we were asked for our comments on the "changes" in the plan. I asked for the changes to be itemised. I was told that it was in the brochure. It turned out that few had seen the brochure, so we were treated to a discussion of where all the changes had gone - again.

At the conclusion of this discussion I again asked to know what the changes were. I was not told. As far as I could see from the brochures I had received, not from GMPTE might I add, the vaunted changes were minimal.

Councillor Clarke would have us believe that GMPTE is falling over backwards to accommodate our wishes. It looks to me as if the juggling with the plan is designed to dilute the opposition. A lesson for the future might be to keep the details of the opposition under one's hat until the public inquiry.

He makes great play of the leisure route with a 'countryside' feel. It has a countryside feel now - it is countryside. As far as the bridleway goes, the public have a moral and legal right to a bridleway along this route, for walking, horse riding and cycling, so he is giving no concession here.

In any case, there are many instances in Wigan MB and throughout the country, where promises of rights of way have been given and not fulfilled - in fact the busway route from Millers Lane to Cooling Lane is a case in point. Many people in this area will have met the concept of "Thee promise 'um t'pit - I'll see they don't ger it."

As to the glossy brochures, read them carefully. What do they say?

May I conclude by saying I am not a member of the Green Party. I am a horse rider - I ride out almost every day throughout the year in the "busway" area - but my major problem with this scheme is that this is yet another area where farming, wildlife and public access exist in harmony and will be lost to us in the interests of developers. Give them another 20 years and Britain will be a block of concrete in the Channel. There has to be another way.

E. Booth

Chapel Walk

Lowton St Mary's

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