I AM thankful that the Bolton News was present at the recent Civic Trust AGM, reported on in Friday’s edition.

However, I am concerned that the ‘sound-bite’ of my particular report at the meeting might give the impression that the meeting was another ‘gripe’ about the town hall and town centre schemes – it was part of a recap for members who were not able to have been at the public meeting and an update on events. Indeed, the Civic Trust is very concerned about the processes that led to the various council revealings and counter-actions against them by the public.

We, the Civic Trust, would far prefer proactive and integrated co-operation and discussion on matters of planning and design rather than having to ‘go to war’, as it must seem, over such issues. Our point is that the people of Bolton have much to offer and it is a shame and a snub to them that their expertise and knowledge is not drawn upon in a truly democratic and engaging way and that the efforts of expensive external consultants are apparently wasted in having to ‘think again’.

My presentation was a precursor to that of our chairman, Richard Shirres, whose engaging talk was on much wider-ranging matters of ecological importance in regard to environmental design and building responses to the real issues facing us in the coming decades. We see none of this embodied in any current developments, even country-wide, and Richard illustrated how far behind the continent is the UK in responding to such challenges. We, the Civic Trust, would love to be engaged in discussion with Bolton Council over these issues, particularly in regard to Cheadle Square and the bus station site.

I hope this redresses the balance the reporting of our meeting. Incidentally, I was styled as ‘a boss’ of the Civic Trust – far from it – I am just a foot soldier!

Mark Head

Egerton