DAVID Forshaw (Letters, July 27) appears to have lost the plot.

Great Harwood's small shop businesses had their demise because of the loss of 95 per cent of medium to large manufacturing companies which resulted in people not coming to the town for employment and local people going out of town for employment. These were the bulk of the customers who frequented local shops.

The urgent need for Great Harwood is to attract more industry to the industrial estates which will, in turn, increase the number of people coming to the town.

I am very pleased Mr Forshaw has finally admitted that the Labour-controlled council has completely failed over the years and allowed this small community to degenerate into what it is today.

By his own admission, the recreation ground is a dog's toilet, the nursery is inadequate and the town has been in economic decline for the past 20 years.

Finally if Mr Forshaw thinks that, by allowing a supermarket to develop on an ill-thought-out site, will regenerate and bring back to life the now-derelict premises in Great Harwood I think he should go back to the other planet he has obviously been on for years.

COUNCILLOR PETER CLARKE (Chairman, Economic Development Board, Hyndburn Council), Ash Lane, Great Harwood.

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