REGARDING the pedestrian crossing issue at Westhoughton.

The first I heard of this matter was a letter in your columns, in which Mr Ray Goodacre criticised Bolton Council for not providing a pedestrian crossing in Church Street, Westhoughton.

I went out to have a look for myself, and, since it seemed probable from the tone of his letter that nobody had told him the full story, I took it upon myself to write to him (not sarcastically). The facts are that, at least since the introduction of Belisha Beacons in the late 1940's, central Government has laid down quite precise rules and criteria telling local councils where and under what circumstances they can or can't provide pedestrian crossings.

These criteria concern things like the minimum numbers of vehicles using the road, and the number of pedestrians likely to cross at the proposed site. There were, and are two possibilities. Either the Church Street site has not been fully assessed, or it has been assessed, and fails to meet the criteria. I promised Mr. Goodacre I would contact an appropriate specialist officer, and let him know either way. And as soon as I receive the briefing note I have asked for, I will let him know.

Now Westhoughton Town Council is not the Highway Authority. Bolton MBC is, but Cllr David Wilkinson, in his alternative capacity as a Member of Bolton MBC has been around quite long enough to know all of the above, and ask appropriate questions. Under normal circumstances, if a scheme meets the criteria, it would be put in the appropriate spending programme, and assessed for priority by the relevant Policy Development Group, whenever the forward programme is reviewed -- normally at least once a year. Scheme assessment is a task for the appropriate specialist officers of Bolton's Environment Directorate, not for me as a politician, and for Cllr Wilkinson to imply that I might have allowed my preferences and prejudices to colour my judgement of any scheme is mischievous. I have done no such thing. I merely sought to inquire whether this proposal had been properly dealt with, and what stage it might have reached. I admit that, based on other schemes I have supported in my own ward, I have doubts about whether Church Street could meet the criteria, but that, in the first instance, is for officers to determine.

Cllr Peter Johnston

Kendal Road, Bolton