I HAVE never felt compelled to voice my feelings in a local paper before, however, having read the articles over the last couple of weeks, regarding Cllr Lea's town signs, I felt I must put pen to paper.

In an article on February 11 it was stated that the idea for the town signs was Cllr Lea's but that the artwork to produce the signs was that of the Graphics Department of WMBC, and that it had taken almost six months of hard work.

I would like to know why the background work on these signs was undertaken.

Is it because the idea for the signs was that of a councillor? If I have an idea for the production of similar signage do I just contact the Graphics Department and expect them to turn the idea in to reality?

Who authorised the expenditure from the Authority budget for the Graphics Department to work on the councillor's idea? Was any consultation undertaken by Councillor Lea as to what the public of Leigh really want on their town signs? I doubt it.

Councillor Lea does not have the monopoly on good ideas. If new signs were required why didn't WMBC run a competition or similar scheme in local schools and colleges to tap in to the young and talented designers of tomorrow, rather than just accepting the first idea suggested? (Which just happened to be that of a local councillor), ideas which show Leigh's past and none of its present. Ideas such as cotton mills and coal, which perpetuate the "cloth cap" image which has now disappeared in all but a minority of the oldest residents of the town.

The first article on the town signs asked local people to express their views, which some did, and their comments were reported in the second article a week later. What a waste of time it was to pass comment, when the opening line of the article stated: "John Lea's bid to give visitors to Leigh a colourful welcome has been given the go ahead. Just the technical detail has to be worked out before the boundary signs - backed by The Journal - can be made."

Why ask for comment on what is already a fait accompli? Why is The Journal backing a scheme which clearly perpetuates Leigh's image as one of an old industrial town and does nothing to bring us in to the next Millennium? Leigh should be looking to its future not to its past.

If the best idea that Cllr Lea can have is for "town signs", then it is about time he thought about the real issues involved in rebuilding the foundations of a town which has relied on its past for too long.

Why doesn't he mount a campaign for a railway station in the town? Or sort out the world's worst one-way system in the town? Or deal with the on-street drinkers who tarnish the town's image and pose a threat to residents' health etc., etc.?

I'll give Cllr Lea 10 out of 10 for having the idea for town signs, zero out of 10 for actioning the idea in a proper way, ie. with fair consultation and openness, zero out of 10 for sign content, and zero out of 10 for "Best Value".

After all, isn't that what local government is supposed to be striving for these days.

Forward Looking Leigh Resident

(Name and address supplied)

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