I WISH to comment on the planning application of the Astley Bridge Mosque.

Each Planning Department must have a "general development plan". I would ask that they inform the residents of Astley Bridge what their plan is, as it seems to us residents that the plan is the destruction of our village.

For a planning application to be forwarded four times and four times be not approved and, on the fifth, be approved smacks of "I've had enough of this let's get rid of it". That is, approve the plan against the opinion of the residents of Astley Bridge. How is the committee composed? Who was the Astley Bridge member? I hope he voted for the residents, but was overruled. As the plan may decrease the value of the their homes, will the council now compulsory purchase their homes, or will the council compensate the residents for the reduced value of their homes, as is allowed by the planning rules?

Finally, the last paragraph in your article beggars belief. To say that the application be approved because it was not the applicant's fault that no parking spaces were available is a dereliction of duty by the planning committee. But then again, what do politicians know about duty?

Peter Greenhalgh

Belmont Road

Astley Bridge

Bolton