HAVING clearly incurred the wrath of correspondent Ian Marsh (Your Letters, Sept 6), I would like to set him straight on a few matters.

His letter is built significantly around the use of the term "dregs". This has not been used in any of my letters.

I commend his work with true refugees. I do not have a problem with those fleeing oppression and war, indeed, they should be helped, and I do not have a problem with immigrants who have applied and succeeded through the proper channels.

However, I do have a problem with bogus asylum-seekers and those who ply a trade in human cargo at our expense. But all that is perhaps a distraction from the debate concerning the future use of the former hostel building in Church Street, Radcliffe.

I could go into the many reasons why the location is wrong for an "information centre" and, in due course, would be happy to vigorously discuss my views with interested parties.

However, what I would say for now is that on Blackburn Street, near the cenotaph, there is a council-owned property for sale or rent which has a bus stop opposite, a new car park at the side, is close to Metrolink and the council offices at Whittaker Street, and close by old people's flats. It would be an ideal location, and I am wholly supportive of such a centre there.

I do not believe it should be located where suggested. The former hostel there had sufficient problems for the police to be instrumental in its closure and I assume amongst its residents at that time there was only a small proportion of drug-users. However, this did not prevent mine and other back yards being used to discard syringes, and there was also an increase in crime in the vicinity, not least customers' cars being broken into.

Maybe the service offered and those likely to be attracted to it, should be limited to reflect the manpower resources available to support it. Let's not experiment recklessly in the way we did with the hostel previously.

On my first visit recently to the Radcliffe Area Board meeting, I was bemused by the lack of attendance, given many of the issues on the agenda. Coun Barry Briggs makes similar comment concerning the low attendance at the town centre sub-group meetings.

I've been a town centre landlord for nearly ten years and haven't ever encountered a councillor out and about showing interest. Having now learned of the existence of the area board and town centre sub-group, I shall endeavour to attend; it was actually more interesting, and at times more amusing, than television. Another agenda item concerned a proposed IT Learning Centre to help create jobs. It also needs premises and sounded ideal for the Church Street site.

One interesting question arose from the meeting. If one option is really to knock down the building, why were workmen cutting away slates and installing new roof windows during the bank holiday? This wasn't general maintenance, so who would waste money on such work if demolition was really a consideration? I didn't hear any satisfactory answer to that use of ratepayers' money from Coun Briggs.

NEIL HIGGINSON