Do we really need the bus lane?

DO we really need this guided bus lane with a loss to our Riverside Park, which benefits both residents and visitors? In 1967, this formal area was filled by individually and well-tended private gardens. Then it was lost through compulsory purchase to acc

DO we really need this guided bus lane with a loss to our Riverside Park, which benefits both residents and visitors?

In 1967, this formal area was filled by individually and well-tended private gardens. Then it was lost through compulsory purchase to accommodate the ring road, but with a promise to landscape the area. Twelve years later the land was still derelict.

Then, surprise, surprise, a planning application was received for houses and flats to be built on the area. The then Cromwell Residents' Association (many members being owners of the original gardens) spearheaded a campaign against the plan and, with help from Huntingdon residents, the Civic Society and a final push by Sir John Major (then our MP), the application was quashed. Huntingdonshire District Council instigated a lottery to help with the finance of making the park what it is today.

The proposal to give 10 metres (321/2 feet) for the bus lane is a wicked waste of money, involving considerable disruption to traffic, loss of mature trees and the loss of some of the formal area. Is it really 10 metres or are we being hoodwinked?

The football pitch, if made smaller, will be suitable only for juniors - hardly fair.

A PAYTON

Euston Street

Huntingdon