CONGRATULATIONS to Mr A.Taylor, of Sycamore Road, Atherton, on his masterly assessment of Wigan Metro.

He has said what thousands of us are saying privately, but Mr Taylor is the first to have sufficient "bottle" to come out with it in public.

As for Wigan Council's reply, it seems to be their stock reply to any criticism. We all know what "consultation with local residents" means - you can voice your opinion in thousands but the project is going ahead anyway.

When Wigan Metro have built Xanadu, the Guided Busway, schools on playing fields, the "leisure" development along miles of the canal, the holiday village at the side of Pennington Flash, and turned us in to "the new Blackpool", our lives will be hell and we shan't be able to get out and our houses will be worth nothing. My advice to all concerned residents is to pack up and go now, before things get worse.

A further three cheers for Mr Eric Wright, of Sandringham Court, Lowton. What could be better: if you want to restore an old theatre, than to turn it in to a theatre. However, Mr Wright has missed the point - there's more money to be made out of a pub than a theatre.

Edna Booth

Chapel Walk

Lowton St Mary's

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