HAVING visited the various public displays and consultations, I feel compelled to write on the proposals for a Metrolink stop at Buckley Wells.

This is a quiet residential area with properties dating back to the 1850s. The proposed car park and tram stop does not fit in with it or the daily lives of the community. The car park, tucked away between the railway workshops and behind the new residential development on Baron Street, is a potential crime "hotspot'

Manchester Old Road and Baron Street have existing week-day traffic problems and ten new new town houses and a three-storey apartment block have significantly added to vehicle activity. Further development will compromise the safety of the many school children who use this route.

Baron Street was not designed to handle additional traffic and, because of congestion, residents already pay the council for the privilege of parking in front of their own homes. Where will they park in future?

A modified Manchester Road junction will not ease the already congested traffic flow and, from an economic perspective, all local businesses will be adversely affected.

In summary, residents here think this proposal is ill-conceived and flawed. It will not in any way enhance our lives nor our community, because the Metro users will not be local but people commuting to Manchester, predominantly from the Rossendale Valley region.

There are two options which no one seems prepared to consider:

1, Open the existing heritage railway from Rawtenstall to Bury for week-day commuter services. A pedestrian-only transfer station could be built at a fraction of the cost of the current proposals, where the heritage railway connects with Metrolink at the bottom of Buckley Wells yards.

2, There is a large parcel of vacant land, once the site of Knowsley Street railway station, which is both near an existing car park and near the bus-tram interchange. This has excellent road access, is near the town centre, and could easily accommodate the number of vehicles quoted in the proposal. Access to the Interchange could be via the tram stop platforms.

Not only would construction costs be reduced, and the environmental impact be minimal, but it could also be used at weekends to alleviate parking problems in Bury town centre.

One final point: as a daily commuter to Manchester using Metrolink, I have not yet heard how these hundreds of extra passengers will be accommodated. Each day there is a long queue for the ticket machine and by the time the tram reaches Radcliffe, all seats are occupied. By the time it reaches Bowker Vale, even the standing room is taken.

ANDY BOOT,

Baron Street, Bury.