I HOPE readers who are resident in Hollins, or who travel through Hollins at peak times, are aware that there is a major traffic problem in the area.

Bury Council have recognised that there is a problem which prompted them, through public pressure, to hold two public meetings to listen to residents' views and to suggest ways in which the situation could be addressed. They have carried out road traffic surveys on Croft Lane, Hollins Lane, Melton Drive and Wilton Drive and we await the results.

It does not take a statistician to conclude that the traffic in our area is fast becoming intolerable but, in fairness to the council, we understand that there has to be substantive evidence.

The thing that staggers me is the hypocrisy of Bury Council who persist in giving planning permission to develop even more areas in and around Hollins, which only serves to exacerbate the problem. With the development of the retail park, the industrial estate and numerous housing developments, Hollins has changed from a sleepy village into something resembling the M25 on a bad day!

Imagine our horror, only a couple of days prior to the second public meeting, to find that yet another piece of land had been put up for sale and, again by the council's own admission, it will almost certainly be sold to a property developer for housing.

Wait, it gets better: this time it is actually Bury Council who are selling the land! That it is not only hypocrisy but greed as well.

CHRIS MAYES,

Hollins resident.