AGAIN it has been demonstrated that the land at Walkers Fields, Bury, is not suitable for a carnival, and that Chesham Road is not suitable as an access route.

I am surprised that the council gave permission for the land to be used, especially as discussions involving the council and residents some years ago came to the conclusion that both the land and the road were unsuitable.

The land this year was softer then ever due to excessive rain and certainly could not support heavy fairground vehicles, a fact demonstrated from the Friday onwards when their attempts to get on the field were unsuccessful. In trying, they severely cut up the ground at the three entrances, making it difficult for the lighter vehicles to get through. Even when on the field, many vehicles lost traction and had to be towed out by a tractor, which added to the surface damage. Vehicles were arriving from 7am on the Sunday and this, together with the difficult access, resulted in the top end of Chesham Road being blocked for more than an hour. The Danesmoor Road estate was cut off and emergency vehicles ,which are often required at the old people's home and the children's home, could not have got through. All that was needed was a marshal at Chester Street to hold back arrivals until it was clear beyond Danesmoor Road, and two-way traffic would have been possible.

The situation was made worse because residents were not asked to avoid parking cars on the road, as in the past when it has been backed up with police "no parking" cones. I was told that the police were not able to be present until 8am, by which time the situation was out of hand.

The event was blessed with good weather, but had it been wet the damage to the field would have been much worse. Also had there been a strong prevailing wind then much of the litter would have been blown into the new council nature reserve.

Should it be decided to use the field for a similar event in the future, then can we please have some planning to avoid many of these problems.

An official needs to be on the site when the fairground vehicles arrive because they are not interested in minimising damage to the land. Steel plates should be laid over the entrance points and known soft areas. Other affected areas should be roped off and police must control the traffic on Chesham Road. And serious efforts should now be made to restore the condition of the field.

A. H. WORRALL,

Chesham Road, Bury.