I AM cannot be alone in being amazed at the reported proposals to make Fairfax Road "one-way" (Guide, June 25) and appalled at our borough engineer's reported comment that: "It will be inconvenient, but it is the developers who have requested this. There is no other practical way of dealing with it."

If Countryside Properties and our borough engineers department were as professional and thorough as we should expect, this problem would have been considered and resolved during the planning application, rather than -- apparently -- being accepted as something of a fait accompli by the council.

Perhaps we should now also question the results and conclusions of the traffic survey concerning the impact of this development on traffic on Fairfax Road after its completion -- or might Fairfax Road just stay "one-way"?

I was also concerned at the careful words of explanation, or justification, which included the phrase "for them to store materials for development". Does this mean Fairfax Road, a public highway, might be used for storage of construction materials?

Fairfax Road is already a hugely over-used road, particularly in the direction that this proposal will ban. Not only local traffic, but also Manchester commuters use the route, with traffic regularly backing up onto Heys Road and Poppythorn Lane.

The reported "diversion of traffic to join Bury New Road further down" means re-locating this traffic onto Besses junction, St Mary's Road, Park View Road or Scholes Lane, a move which will further paralyse Prestwich, particularly at peak times, and add up to two miles to a journey of 200 metres.

Has the impact on the traders of Prestwich Village been considered at all?

Why should Prestwich residents be forced into 18 months of insconvenience? Surely alternatives, including overnight or off-peak deliveries could be considered -- or would this be "inconvenient" to Countryside Properties?

The greatest irony is that in their glossy brochure Countryside Properties claim their development as being "perfect for all transport links" and as having "excellent communication links", features they are proud to promote to the buyers of their properties, but deny to Prestwich residents during construction.

Surely our local councillors, MP and the paid employees of Bury MBC should have greater consideration for the rights of Prestwich residents to go about their business rather than giving priority to the long-term "convenience" of a commercial developer.

BRIAN MUIR,

Prestwich resident.