I AM somewhat taken aback by the protestations of Councillor Bashir-Ismail about not being consulted and informed of the Blackburn Road protest against the planned mosque.

I, together with every man and his dog, have known about the date and proposed location of this protest for weeks.

The notice and thousands of comments have been all over the ‘Stop the Astley Bridge Mosque’ Facebook page since the venue was changed from Oldham.

I assume from her remarks that her fellow councilors Harkin and Darvish were equally kept in the dark.

Had it been me, I would have been making inquires of the chief executive right from the start.

Having said that, I would not expect the police to divulge full details of their preparations even to me as a ward councillor, but would have had full confidence in what ever plans they chose to make to deal with the situation.

Sometimes you just have to leave things to the professionals.

As it turned out, that confidence would have been fully justified since the protest happened with large numbers of people in an awkward location and passed with little trouble and just a couple of arrests while maintaining the right to protest and free speech. Well done GMP and our chief officers.

Cllr Paul Richardson Ripon Close Little Lever