SIR: What a truly fascinating article (BEN,May 22) about Dr Brian Iddon MP wanting action on the crumbling homes in Bolton!

Would it be a good idea to start off with the houses on Hilden Street in the Haulgh area. But the work needs to be done now, rather than five or 10 years later. It seems difficult to understand that 25 per cent of the 23,000 homes are unfit to live in and should be demolished, when surely the council should tackle the problem from the 'inside' and have the homes revamped, as they did with the Metropolitan College on Manchester Road.

I moved in with the council homes a few years ago, when I applied for a council flat, and even though the accommodation at first seemed 'unfit' to live in, it did not take long for me to re-condition the property inside, from top to bottom.

Unfortunately the lease seemed to run out after seven years, and the area was due to be demolished due to a new redevelopment scheme with the Government investing £12 million in a new project. Some of the old houses have already been renovated in the town, and all credit to the council, especially with the idea of planting trees in the street, and making Bolton into a garden town. Examples of the renovation scheme have already taken place around Manchester Road and Halliwell.

To continue the idea. Begin with Hilden Street in the Haulgh because of the centenary year and make it coincide with the town's football team and glamorous performance as Champions of the First Division, could be an exciting double for the council to aim for, if they get their heads together and plan things as they should be, as these ideas go hand-in-hand with each other.

Ex Bolton Student and originally from a terraced home

Name and address supplied

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