I NOTE that a reader, Mr Kenneth Lucas of Hindley, suggested in his letter published on August 23 ("Land that's lost") that "one hardly every hears about a large building plan being ruled out by local objectors".

I would like to remind readers that the two large housing schemes at Bowlands Hey and Lee Hall, Westhoughton, and the proposed waste disposal site at Red Moss, Horwich, have, in recent years, been successfully opposed by Bolton Council, with the large scale backing of local people.

Local residents' views cannot, under current planning law, be the only consideration taken into account when deciding planning applications and the Planning Committee must take an overall view of what is best for the long term future of the whole Borough. Similarly, the views of the local Ward Members needs to be balanced with the views of the Committee as a whole. In these three cases, happily, the strongly-held local views coincided with the wider and more strategic views of the Council.

Councillor Mrs Prentice Howarth

Chair, Planning and Highways

Committee, Bolton Metro