all have

something to do with this plan?

I WRITE in response to the letter from Clr Derek Squirrell in last week's Knutsford Guardian: 'We chose this road for good reasons' about his and Knutsford Town Council's decision not to support the King Street pedestrianisation scheme under discussion/consultation at the moment.

Councillor Squirrell details a number of reasons why he and the council think this scheme is flawed and tells us that the town council 'made its decision after considering all aspects of pedestrianisation' and further that it 'reached its conclusions based on the information available.'

What Councillor Squirrell didn't tell us was that the current scheme has been developed by the technical staff at Macclesfield Borough Council, not in ivory tower isolation, but as part of a joint Knutsford Pedestrianisation Working Group with the town council.

This was formed in 1995 and included, as might reasonably be expected, our borough councillors, Messrs Davies, Ingham, Mazzeo, Page and Smith and Mrs Jan Verney, some of whom are also town councillors, and two Knutsford Town Council representatives, Mrs Barbara Phibbs and Councillor Squirrell himself.

After working together for three years, this group APPROVED the current scheme in February this year.

One might legitimately ask exactly what Councillor Squirrell thought he was approving just a few months ago!

What has happened since to make him change his mind, apart from the anti-campaign launched by town centre shopkeepers, which he says the town council 'does not necessarily support'?

His claim that the town council 'has reached its conclusions based on the information available' is wrong, as the views of the town's population in general on this scheme can only be found in the yet-to-be-published results of Macclesfield's widely-distributed pedestrianisation questionnaire.

Perhaps Councillor Squirrell should have ensured everybody's views have been taken into account before he so comprehensively rubbished a pedestrianisation scheme he has played a major role in developing.

If this scheme really is as flawed as Councillor Squirrell now seems to think, could he consider stepping down as one of our elected representatives.

His letter shows he is either extremely forgetful or suggestible or possibly a unique combination of both.

JEFFREY GAZZARD

Delmar Road

Knutsford

Converted for the new archive on 13 March 2001. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.