FOLLOWING the public meeting held in late July, Tottington Labour Party felt that it was important to involve the local community and demonstrate the outrage felt by many about the car park issue.

As the pay and display machine was being introduced imminently, it seemed sensible to capture the depth of feeling as soon as possible.

To that end, more than 2,000 leaflets were distributed as soon as we could manage it, and 2,032 signatures have been collected. The Labour Party imprimatur was clearly visibly on all leaflets, and on the petition, as we are required to do by law.

This petition has now been passed to the brewery, and Bury North MP David Chaytor has also become involved at our request.

Indeed, his letter to the brewery has been e-mailed to all those who provided their details, as will news of any further developments - hardly a sinister motive for the collection of details of concerned residents as implied by a recent contributor to the Bury Times.

Other efforts seem to centre around the business community in Tottington, who no doubt are the hardest hit by these changes, and need as much support as local residents can give them.

We welcome the Save Our Village initiative, and feel that all efforts to turn the situation around have been complimentary not mutually exclusive. We are sorry that not all of your readers feel the same.

Many thanks to all those who signed the petition, and also businesses who collected signatures as well.

Tottington should be proud that it has rallied together for the common good.

JANE LEWIS, Chairman, Tottington Labour Party, Rosewood Avenue, Tottington