AS a resident of Whitefield, living within a few yards of the now dilapidated Elms Precinct, I would like to express my concerns - to Councillor Boden in particular - over the decline in services and facilities in this area and the apparent lack of interest being displayed by Bury MBC.

Whitefield has suffered tremendously, particularly during the six years I have lived here. It has gradually gone from being a pleasant and desirable residential area into a ghost town.

First of all there was "Blightfield", resulting from the M62-widening fiasco, then Safeways left town unable to compete with rival outlets at Pilsworth and Prestwich, followed by the gradual decline of local bus services, rendering the once-busy bus station almost redundant.

Several sectors of the local community, such as parents with young children, the elderly and non-drivers, would like to make use of local facilities, were there any worth using. Looking along the A56, the only growth market seems to be that of fast food outlets: how many more pizzas are we expected to consume?

Residents in the vicinity of the Elms Precinct were recently contacted by the council's planning department about alterations to plans submitted by North West Properties. However, the planning permission in question related to the demolition and subsequent rebuilding of properties on an adjacent site, facing Bury New Road, and not the main precinct itself.

NW Properties apparently plan to build a new two-storey retail development on this neighbouring site, with the hope of enticing those few businesses still trading in the precinct to these new units. There is no guarantee that these businesses will be willing, or be able, to move, nor do we have any idea of what will happen to the precinct if and when they do so. Furthermore, if they cannot, or will not, move there is a huge risk that the precinct may be left in its current state indefinitely. Meanwhile, NW Properties are claiming that they need to keep the remains of the demolished buildings (ie rubble) on site, as this will be used in the foundations of their proposed new development, and Bury Council seem quite happy to let them do so, as long as it is fenced in. Whilst this may be perfectly acceptable to them, residents of this neighbourhood are far from satisfied.

We do not want piles of rubble, now supplemented by household waste and goodness knows what else, whether fenced in or not. The council appears to have ignored the fact that although NW Properties may indeed fence it in, if the plans for the new site are not approved, they will be under no obligation to remove it.

What we would like to see is some real commitment to this town and a proper plan of action that satisfies the local community and those elected to govern.

By that we mean tougher measures taken against the likes of NW Properties. Force them to clean up now, before granting permission to start work on the next site. For all we know, they may well demolish the buildings fronting Bury New Road and leave that rubble in situ, too. They got away with it once, so who is to say they won't try it again? Others could follow suit, knowing that the council has done so little in the past to punish such behaviour.

It is most unfair to expect us to put up with such an unsightly and potentially dangerous mess on our doorsteps. Had this happened in other parts of the borough, such as Bury town centre or in Councillor Boden's own neighbourhood, the NIMBY attitude would surely have prevailed and swift action would have been taken.

We cannot threaten to with-hold our council tax for fear of prosecution, but is it fair that we continue to pay whilst the council fails us? Visitors to the area are put off by the site now known as "Kosovo" and house-buyers would prefer not to move to an area resembling a war zone.

Councillor Boden & Co, get your act together now!

MS CHERYL PHILIPSZ,

Holly Fold, Whitefield.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.