SO, Mr Hawkin thinks that speed humps are the answer.

How are they being paid for? Through the price hike in car parking fees?

Does Mr Hawkin live in the real world? Firstly, I do agree that we do need traffic calming measures to reduce the number of accidents. Do we really need them on A-class roads? No, we don't! Why? Well, during rush hour times, what is the average speed of the traffic -- approx 15 to 20 mph. Which is actually the speed that Mr Hawkin wants.

Mr Hawkin wants us to travel by public transport. Can I give evidence to show that this is pointless. I travel to Manchester, I could catch First Manchester route 94 from where I live. This route takes over an hour. A quicker route is to take Blue Bus route 478 to Bolton, then either First Manchester route 8 to Manchester, or First North Western to Manchester. Thus I am using two completely different modes of public transport operated by different companies, making it more expensive. It costs approximately £1.30 from Bradley Fold to Bolton (single) and approx £4 from Bolton to Manchester (return). That is, on average, £6.60 daily, or £33 a week. If I could use my car to Bolton train station and park in the street, then it would only cost me approximately £25 a week. Or, if I was to use my car all the way to Manchester, it would only cost me approximately £20 a week.

Time differences are justified, by my reasoning. By public transport, it takes approximately 90 minutes to two hours, while, by car, it only takes about one hour.

One more final point. Mr Hawkin likes his speed humps, but, again, this slows down the timing of the buses, so making travelling times much longer to get to work. What time does Mr Hawkin start his job, and when does he finish, for, if he lived in the real world he, too, would be caught up in the traffic jams.

Welcome to the 21st century, where Bolton is at the forefront of not only creating traffic calming, but also creating more jams than necessary and slowing down public transport while trying to advertise it. Creating a town where cars cannot travel because of the astronomical parking fees to help with the shortfall in the town's budget. This is a mess that has been created by the council and, no matter what they do, they cannot escape the fact that they have done this and are creating a ghetto town which people are scrambling to escape from. More and more people are already beginning to miss out Bolton and shop in Bury, Wigan, Trafford Centre and Middlebrook, where parking fees are very minimal and public transport is far superior and the towns believe in visitors and not just money.

How much of the town's budget goes on the councillors' wages?

Thomas Shepherd

Kentsford Drive

Bradley Fold

Radcliffe