SIR: We are grateful to Cllr Foster for his comments committing the Council to the establishment of targets and indicators for environmental performance (BEN September 17). We shall be the first to congratulate them when meaningful policies of waste reduction and recycling are put into effect.

However, they will have to work very hard to catch up with towns like Bath which has already passed the Government's 25 per cent by 2000 recycling target. As we pointed out in your article of August 21, Bolton's performance has fallen in recent years from four per cent to around three per cent.

FOE groups have worked with local authorities in Bath and in other areas to achieve impressive environmental improvements and it is a matter for regret that we have been forced into a position of confrontation with our own Council through their lack of progress and their unwillingness to take part in constructive debate on these issues.

We have expressed our doubts that Bolton Council will develop the changes in attitude that are necessary for real progress to be made in the area of environmental protection.

We sincerely hope, for all our sakes, that we are proved wrong.

Dennis Watson

For Bolton Friends of the Earth

Millgate, Egerton

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