YET again the council, through their officers, have shown a complete disregard for matters environmental within the borough.

I refer to the front-page headline "DESTRUCTION" (Bury Times, June 25) and it is an all-too-familiar story within our area.

I would like to relate some of the things that have gone through planning within the last few years which our representatives have been in favour of but against which local opposition has been strong; so much so that - although the familiar phrase "there is nothing we can do" has been used - decisions have nonetheless been turned around.

I will start with the Kirklees Valley area: over the last 20 years it has been one little development after another up the whole length of the valley until what our council has designated a natural wildlife corridor has become just that, a corridor - in many places less than a third of its width of 20 years ago . And it isn't finished yet by a long way.

There is another development in the pipeline at the Bury end of the valley that will effectively cut the first quarter of a mile of the valley off from the public, and in principal the council planning officers don't object. Whatever happened to the country walk from Bury centre to Tottington centre through the Kirklees Valley? It was so often mooted, but was really just a load of hot air.

Chesham Woods are another classic example - owned by the borough, which makes it ours. Yet to balance the budget the council are attempting to sell it back to the local residents. Now where have we heard that policy statement from? Sounds familiar?

The green field in Holcombe Brook, surrounded with mature trees, has been used as a recreational area locally for donkey's years. A developer comes along to build houses on the site and to chop down trees, and in principal the council planning department did not object until the locals kicked up such a stink that there was a bit of a rethink.

The residents of Newington Drive have every right to feel aggrieved by what is going on in their area; and just because someone owns a piece of land it should not, and does not, give them the right to spoil its status to the detriment of others.

From my own experiences I must warn them not to expect a great deal of support from local officialdom or national organisations such as the Environment Agency.

It is the Mr Swampies of this world who are the people who really care. If you all stick together you might just get some change of heart, although I somehow doubt it with the present council.

ARTHUR F. METCALFE,

Westcombe Drive,

Brandlesholme.

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