IN reporting the news, (LT, November 10) that the annual Arts in the Park and Mela are to merge into one town centre festival in Blackburn, the story asserted this has been widely condemned by members of the Asian community'.

Only two councillors were quoted, one was secretary of the first mela organising committee, the other chair of the committee for seven years.

This is hardly representative criticism.

The article went on to quote another councillor who raises a legitimate issue about drink, together with a music promoter who suggests different styles of music cannot easily be mixed.None of these is insuperable and, perhaps without knowing it, what the two critics actually did was to let the dead multi-cultural cat - which anyway needs throwing over the wall - out of the bag.

One asserts: "The original idea was to promote different cultures" accepting this was in segregated way of course, while the other simply stated, "you're not going to please everyone at the same time", as if this was somehow a defence for separate development'.

You add into this heady mix - all tending to endorse a thoroughly multi-cultural perspective, whose wider death rattle in society the LT reporting seems not to have noticed - the former leader of the council, who clearly stated to us, publicly during the 100 voices conference at Ewood Park, that she knew the two festivals had to come together but it would take more time to make this possible.

Is she now retreating from this position? Her assertion that the festival will end up as a pub crawl is somewhat ironic: it was, after all, her administration which licensed many establishments that have increased drink and drugs problems in the town centre.

Then in the opinion piece, the LT seems a touch over-defensively, to laud its community cohesion credentials as a newspaper, which are not in doubt, while at the same time seeming to opine the loss of the old, outworn, multi-cultural approach, with essentially one event for whites, and another for Asians. However good they were, they were divisive. Simply two is better than one, as you suggest, is just no argument at all. That way there is no future. We need a different approach.

A festival that is shaped, as we understand this one will be, by the community, rather than by a self-appointed clique..

The fact this festival will be focused on the town centre connects it with the borough's hopes in terms of regeneration. It is thus a welcome example of joined-up thinking in policy terms.

This is a bold move and we are glad for it. If Blackburn is to get beyond a tired and failed mult-iculturism, and become truly cohesive, it's time for other institutions in the town to follow the borough's courageous lead.

ANJUM ANWAR MBE, Dialogue Development Officer, CANON CHRIS CHIVERS, Canon Chancellor (with responsibility for interfaith and community relations) Blackburn Cathedral.