I REFER to your report "Action call on 'forgotten' site", (BEN: February 5).

In the understandable desire for something to be done quickly to the now derelict sawmill on Bradshaw Brow, let us not lose sight of the implications of this current planning application.

This calls for an increase from 46 sheltered accommodation apartments with 37 car spaces, to 54 general-use flats plus 64 car parking spaces. Exiting on to a main road bend is a hazardous proposition for both drivers and pedestrians -- any further incursion would add to the "accident waiting to happen" syndrome. Neither do we want to lose the ancient short-cut footpath.

Of course this eyesore needs clearing, but a subsequent re-think on the matter would not come amiss. Could the council not dip into its (our!) pot, purchase the land and have it landscaped? Who knows, it might save itself the equivalent in insurance claims -- with a bonus of returning wildlife! Or what about residents applying for a grant from New Opportunities Fund's green spaces and sustainable communities programme to create a "doorstep green"?

Meanwhile, anyone objecting to the currently proposed increase in dwellings and car spaces should make their views known to the Director of Planning, Town Hall, Bolton, quoting PA no. 60424/01 as soon as possible.

Olive M Kenyon

Laburnum Park, Bradshaw

Bolton I REFER to your report "Action call on 'forgotten' site", (BEN: February 5). In the understandable desire for something to be done quickly to the now derelict sawmill on Bradshaw Brow, let us not lose sight of the implications of this current planning application.

This calls for an increase from 46 sheltered accommodation apartments with 37 car spaces, to 54 general-use flats plus 64 car parking spaces. Exiting on to a main road bend is a hazardous proposition for both drivers and pedestrians -- any further incursion would add to the "accident waiting to happen" syndrome. Neither do we want to lose the ancient short-cut footpath.

Of course this eyesore needs clearing, but a subsequent re-think on the matter would not come amiss. Could the council not dip into its (our!) pot, purchase the land and have it landscaped? Who knows, it might save itself the equivalent in insurance claims -- with a bonus of returning wildlife! Or what about residents applying for a grant from New Opportunities Fund's green spaces and sustainable communities programme to create a "doorstep green"?

Meanwhile, anyone objecting to the currently proposed increase in dwellings and car spaces should make their views known to the Director of Planning, Town Hall, Bolton, quoting PA no. 60424/01 as soon as possible.

Olive M Kenyon

Laburnum Park,

Bradshaw, Bolton