IAM saddened and disappointed that Cllr Wilkinson had to resort to cheap political jibes on a very serious environmental and planning issue that will affect all the residents of Westhoughton, and indeed elsewhere in the borough. The residents of Westhoughton deserve better from one of their representatives.

He is fully aware of my environmental credentials as a former Environmental Protection Officer for 15 years, a current member of the Environment Agencies Environment Consultative Group, and an active member and judge for Britain in Bloom. I have spent half of my working lifetime and now my retirement promoting the protection and improvement of our local environment and believe, like the many residents and school children I have had the pleasure of working with in Westhoughton, that this is an issue worth fighting for.

I would ask the councillor to read my letter of December 22 once again and he will see that I did not say he voted in support of this application, but that the Town Council did, although I can understand why he and others may think the two things are the same.

I am not going to repeat the many environmental reasons aired in these columns over the past months as to why we should retain this community site, other than to say we should all learn from the mistakes of the past and ensure that the green, open spaces within our communities are valued and protected, otherwise we will all end up with the urban sprawl that no one wishes to see.

Trevor Leese

Avebury Close

Horwich