ANYONE with children, who have enjoyed the woods and playing areas in Witton Country Park, will not have access to these areas in the summer of next year.

Billinge, Bouncer and Ned Hole Wood will be out of bounds, and will no longer be available for the Sunday walks and picnics - a privilege we have enjoyed for 30 years.

Suddenly and without warning, a serious danger seems to be lurking in these woods and threatens the safety of the school some 400 yards away.

So much so that the school governors have persuaded the council to seal off with steel railings access to the whole area, without the slightest regard to the opinions of the general public who use these pleasures on a daily basis.

When the breath of fresh air blew through Downing Street last May the newly-elected members of Parliament were told outside the House of Commons that they had to be the servants and not the masters of the people, a message which has not yet filtered through to Blackburn with Darwen's Labour-controlled council, which persists in the habit of making decisions in favour of the few against the wishes of the many.

If the school buildings have to be railed off let them get on with it, in the meantime leave the rest of the park alone.

E Turner

Rolleston Road

Blackburn

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