AT the Radcliffe Area Board meeting on November 29, I asked if there was a covenant on Radcliffe Cricket Club's ground. A council officer said there wasn't and representatives from Radcliffe Cricket Club remained silent.

After a lot of persistence it transpires that there are at least two covenants on the ground, one of which contains various restrictions. The covenant uncovered most recently dates back to 1937 and its contents are being looked into. The other is 1995 and I am not convinced that earlier ones do not also exist.

The covenants effectively state that the cricket ground "should be used as a field of sports and ancillary activities and for no other purpose whatsoever".

One of the restrictions in the 1995 register gives Bury MBC the right to buy back (within 21 years) RCC and its grounds for £40,000 if a planning application is made for any use other than as a field of sports and ancillary activities (this figure is available from the Lytham Land Registry). This means that Bury MBC could, if they so wished, buy back the land for £40,000, sell the land to a builder themselves, keep all profits from that sale and leave RCC to its own devices. However, on January 7, it was announced that a "financial offer" had been made to the council by RCC to release both the restrictive covenant and the repurchase option. This "financial offer" is cynically classed as "confidential".

In view of the cricket club ground being "Greenfield" and "Protected Recreation Provision" and the proposed new site is "Greenbelt, then I think the populace of Bury MBC have a right to know just how much their fields and countryside may be "bought" for. I am told the council will do what is best for the people of Bury MBC. I take it that remit includes protecting the green open spaces within the borough, especially the few that remain in Radcliffe.

On this issue councillors, of all parties, can not remain sitting on the fence until a planning application is made. Things are happening now!

This Sunday at 1pm at RCC there is to be an official unveiling of their plans to the public. Parties with concerns in any of the affected areas are welcome to join the residents fighting these proposals.

RCC state: "The existing facilities are in decline" and "every avenue for funding the required works has been explored, but without success". I take it that the organisations and dates that they were approached for funding will be made available for public viewing on Sunday also.

It is very sad that the once-proud, busy, thriving RCC now can't even be bothered to replace a few broken concrete fence panels costing less than £10 each. Who is responsible for this state of decline? Why is this being allowed to happen? Members take note please.

A. WADDINGTON