IF other places took a leaf out of Bolton's book on environmental issues, Britain would be a much better place in which to live.

The fact that both young and old alike, along with groups and businesses, were honoured for their efforts at the town's Civic Pride Awards, shows that the "green campaign" is now being taken really seriously and it augers well for the quality of life in the run up to the Millennium.

True, we do still have a lot to put right if we are to shake off that tag of being one of the leading places for "summertime smog", and many areas still cry out for major improvements. But these are mostly matters which require Government action on traffic levels and major injections of cash. The real triumph and value of the Civic Pride Awards is that they recognise environmental achievements that often come down simply to some careful thought and effort - and not huge amounts of money.

Just think how we could transform things if everyone followed the example of the youngsters involved in litter picking, cleaning off graffiti and flower planting. While the gloom and doom merchants forecast a nightmare future of a scarred and shabby landscape with no soul, the folk who scooped the Civic Pride Awards are lighting a beacon of hope for tomorrow's world. Medical misery LAST Friday's front page story about the frail 79-year-old woman, who allegedly had to wait several hours on a hospital trolley and a wheelchair before she was found a bed, is another example of a health service that's a suitable case for treatment.

Don't let's point the finger at the invariably overworked and

understaffed medical teams struggling to cope with ever-increasing demands on NHS resources. It's up to Health Secretary Frank Dobson to start putting his house in order by making sure that those in the medical front line have what they

need to deliver the sort of fast, efficient and cost-effective care which makes agonising waits for treatment a thing of the past. IF other places took a leaf out of Bolton's book on environmental issues, Britain would be a much better place in which to live.

The fact that both young and old alike, along with groups and businesses, were honoured for their efforts at the town's Civic Pride Awards, shows that the "green campaign" is now being taken really seriously and it augers well for the quality of

life in the run up to the Millennium.

True, we do still have a lot to put right if we are to shake off that tag of being one of the leading places for "summertime smog", and many areas still cry out for major improvements. But these are mostly matters which require Government action on traffic levels and major injections of cash. The real triumph and value of the Civic Pride Awards is that they recognise environmental achivements that often come down simply to some careful thought and effort - and not huge amounts of money. Just think how we could transform things if everyone followed the example of the youngters involved in litter picking, cleaning off graffiti and flower planting. While the gloom and doom merchants forecast a nightmare future of a scarred and shabby landscape with no soul, the folk who scooped the Civic Pride Awards are lighting a beacon of hope for tomorrow's world.

Converted for the new archive on 14 July 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.