THE sad faces of people living in the village area of Huncoat reflect their despair at the plans being put forward for yet more industrial development in the front garden' of local people's pride and joy.

The villagers fought en masse against the proposal to use the former land inside the old power station for a massive waste treatment plant. The powers that be argued that this development was a regional necessity.

We knew that once the greenbelt was desecrated for the service road into the plant that other subsidiary developments would follow. This time the developments are outside the old power station fence. In our precious green fields. True to form, the politicians locally used the waste treatment plant argument for their own ends.

Whilst supporting the moves to stop this vandalism to our heritage and countryside amenity, they bickered and scored points. They have not yet all come out and stopped this further desecration within Hyndburn Borough and its oldest township.

Surely commonsense would see that it is madness to destroy virgin fields, bringing more traffic and pollution, killing wildlife and greenbelt Only to provide yet more grey boxes in an over industrialised region and locality, which already has the area's biggest tip and quarry, two industrial estates and now an extra waste treatment plant!

To justify this as progress makes a mockery of the slogan Making Hyndburn a Better Place to Live.' The sad faces reflect our belief that as far as Huncoat is concerned, nobody seems to care.

IAN McCANN, Peter Grime Row, Huncoat.