I AM dismayed at the lack of thought and vision that has gone into the proposed plans for Radcliffe's new town centre.

I have to ask would the same apparent contempt be shown if this was Bury?

The design team will probably never get another opportunity of a blank canvas on a site stretching from Kelsalls plumbers merchants down to the River Irwell. The length of the riverside could be a covered walkway of shops and a cafe bar or pub similar to the walkways of Liverpool Docks. Access roads could be relocated, thus doing away with the triangular island that is to be the Market and Bus Station with houses on top. (One for Lloyd Grossman, Who lives in a house like this? Nobody, they all died of carbon monoxide poisoning).

I have to ask why the planners have not taken this opportunity to relocate the Bus Station nearer to the Metrolink tram station to form a proper "integrated transport system?" Hop off the bus onto a tram. That way, Radcliffe's main roads just might stand a chance of coping with the extra influx of traffic generated by all the new houses and school. I dont believe for one minute that traffic congestion will not get worse as time goes on.

A town centre should be inviting and hold attractions people want to visit to encourage them into the surrounding shops etc. Does Radcliffe really need an art gallery? How many times will people visit it? It wont be once a day or even once a week.

How about a cinema or new baths that people will use instead. Has any research been done into the viability and sustainability of a new market? Is there a demand for stallholders selling new goods or will it end up full of white elephant stalls, second hand ones at that.

How much has it cost council tax payers in consultants' and architects' fees to come up with these plans? Are these proposals the best they can come up with to revitalise our town. I think its back to the drawing board, chaps.

CHRISTOPHER WREN