COUNCIL tax-payers of the borough should be made aware that Bury Council is passing up not one, but two prestige developments in the Holcombe Brook area - both at no cost to itself.

I refer to the proposed re-siting of Holcombe Brook Sports Club from its present location to land off Hazel Hall Lane, some 600-yards away, and the subsequent building on the current site of sheltered accommodation for the elderly.

Retirement flats in this area would not, to most thinking people, be anything but an asset both for the locality and the elderly residents concerned, being a tasteful development in a residential neighbourhood, close to shops and all essential services, and there is a proven need for such in the borough.

The value of the newly-sited sports club has been highlighted recently in the Bury Times; suffice to say here that it would be of obvious benefit to local youngsters who train there, and all the surrounding schools which use our facilities and coaching in one way or another. I have visited all the alternative sites suggested by the planning officer, from Goshen to Radcliffe. None was suitable, mainly on the grounds of distance.

This is not just any club, this is Holcombe Brook Club - would Manchester United play in Burnley? As for the suggestion of the tip on Bolton Road West, Ramsbottom, the planners have obviously not passed that way between 3.30 and 6.30pm, just the time when our youngsters would be turning up.

The traffic is horrendous and dangerous, but the planners do not live here which is why we relied on our local councillors to explain local difficulties to them.

So, what is the problem? Is it that the land off Hazel Hall Lane is just in the Green Belt. The advice to planning officers states that sporting amenities, along with the necessary facilities to carry out these sports, is an allowable use of Green Belt land.

However, once minds are made up, it seems that there is no shifting them. Our MP David Chaytor, and the mayor, showed interest in the projects and were prepared to look at all the plans, but where was the chairman of Ramsbottom Sports Council?

On the matter of planning, how is it that permission was granted for three large houses at the north of Brandlesholme Road, and a school - all on green belt land? Where were the special reasons here?

Rest assured tax-payers, we will not go away. We believe in what we are trying to do and that these projects are of great benefit to the area.

We believe in sport for all, we believe in helping youngsters to find profitable and enjoyable ways of using their time, and in all age groups mixing together in our club - each learning from the other.

We believe in offering the best possible facilities, at our own expense, for all this to take place.

LEO SUTCLIFFE

President, HBSC