Readers' letters

I’d just like to respond to last week’s letter, Town scheme is a bad idea (Guardian October 18).

All the work we are proposing to the town centre is to improve the offer so we can attract more shoppers.

The types of retailers and businesses we are talking to, ones people have told us they want to see in Chorley, aren’t interested in the vacant units as they are not big enough. The Market Walk extension will be at least 75 per cent occupied before work starts and the current centre will have all the units let in the next few weeks so there won’t be lots of empty shops, if any at all, in the development.

We appreciate parking is an issue and it will mean people need to change their habits. We are on with creating more parking spaces, a very short distance from the new shops, by extending the Hollinshead Street car park and creating spaces on the proposed civic square site opposite the Town

Hall.

And we are improving the routes from the car parks to the shops to make the place look more attractive.

We’ve had interest from more than one cinema operator so to say people won’t use it is wrong – the cinema operators are best placed to judge whether they think there is a demand for one in Chorley.

I appreciate everyone will have a view on whether what we are doing is the right thing or not, but the biggest risk is to do nothing and allow our town centre to decline.

We think now is the time to invest in our town centre to support the many independent traders who work really hard to earn a living and make it a place people want to visit and spend their leisure time for years to come.

Coun Alistair Bradley

Leader of Chorley Council

Railway

Destroying our environment

Once again the railway company is slicing up the countryside.

From the railway station in Chorley to part way down Euxton Lane, residents have had letters to say, that, due to electrification, vegetation up to 6m from the line needs to be cleared.

I went to an open meeting about this at Harpers Lane. A man started talking about leaves on the line.

However, due to the nature of trees, I pointed out that trees in Astley Park could shed their leaves which could land on the line.

So, should all the trees in the park, Rivington, and so on, be chopped down for this?

There is a loss of natural habitat and creatures.

The company has said it would support a ‘community project’. This could cost a couple of hundred pounds, but this is not enough.

It needs to spend thousands on replacing the shrubs and planting trees to offset the damage so far.

If we do not look after our environment, it will not look after us.

Name and address suppled

motorists

Cars on the pavements

Why do car drivers park on footpaths, making it impossible for pedestrians to get past? Anyone with a pram, wheelchair or mobility scooter cannot get past without going on to the road.

It is more difficult for someone with a mobility scooter to get from pavement to road as there is usually a big drop.

I have been told it is illegal to park on pavements, but obviously drivers do not consider pedestrians.

My 92-year-old father has a mobility scooter and went out on it the other day and couldn’t get past a white van. He had to reverse and go onto the road.

No consideration for anyone these days.

A very disgruntled resident

shale gas

We need to
ban fracking

The UK Government will soon ratify the Paris climate agreement.

The world’s countries have agreed this treaty, recognising that climate change is the greatest threat to all humanity, and there is strong agreement amongst experts that we have already reached a point that is really serious.

The Government cannot claim to be serious about tackling climate change, and start a whole new fossil fuel industry which is a cause of it, or build a fracking infrastructure which would take time to decommission, rather than importing gas until clean renewables can take over.

If only for these reasons, the Government must hold a vote in Parliament to ban fracking before any further drilling takes place.

Please sign the petition on the Green Party ‘Home’ page. Visit www.greenparty.org.uk – just click on the petition icon on the top of the page as it appears.

Philip Mitchell

Green Party

conflict

Don’t forget the animal victims

As Remembrance Day approaches, it is important to remember that war is not just a human catastrophe.

Millions of animals have also been killed in human conflicts. On the frontline, animals such as dolphins have been used to detect mines, and dogs have been parachuted into enemy territory where many of them died. Animals also suffer in laboratories across the globe – including the notorious Porton Down facility in Wiltshire. Here, animals such as monkeys, rats and guinea pigs are used to test weaponry and made to suffer the devastating effects of chemical warfare agents. Farm and companion animals are also victims of war – when the bombs start to fall, the animals are left to take the brunt. Animals do not start wars or create weaponry, yet because humans do, they are made to suffer in war zones and in laboratories.

The very least we can do for them is to remember those animals for what they truly are: victims not heroes.

To order an Animals in War pack, please contact Animal Aid on: 01732 364546.

Tod Bradbury

Campaigns Team Animal Aid

seasonal

These festivals are a menace

It seems to me that Halloween is a menace, and has become more so in recent years (American influence perhaps?)

I certainly have no recollections of kids and adults making such an issue of it when I was a youngster.

Above all, it’s not just restricted to one night, pumpkins have been on sale since mid-September.

And it’s not just Halloween I hate, bonfire night is another. Remember, remember I could well do without.

And in this respect I know I speak for those with pets who have a terrible time with dogs that don’t understand all the loud bangs.

These start well before November 5 (and after) too.

Neil Kendall

Address supplied