IN reply to Cllr Mrs P Howarth's letter on August 19.

I admit it is not easy to make decisions on how a town ought to be run, and most councillors obviously do their best for the town; for this they get quite a generous sum of money. In the past it was done for a very small remuneration, but that is by the way.

What is very evident over the past years is that at least four public swimming baths have closed, the last one The Water Place was the most embarrassing, after the Queen officially opening it not that many years ago. Well! What can one say?

On top of all other amenities closing, including cinemas and dance halls, nothing much has been considered to replace them.

There is a real need in Bolton for a skateboard park and ice rink combined, and this should be at a reasonable cost for the young people.

Even Portugal (and they are considered way behind England) have free skateboarding parks for their youth.

The town can be proud of the Lads and Girls Club, and the people who run it. But I still maintain that a lot of our younger people are not catered for, and what an opportunity to use the land where The Water Place stood, or Sainsburys, to do something for our young people.

Mrs S Fenney

Westpark

Bolton