IN a letter in the Journal Frank Parkinson asked where the Tyldesley Market tiered planters are.

The answer is they have all been scrapped as part of the £1 million spent on putting the Vantage buses through the Market Square.

These planters cost more than £5,000 each and were purchased by Tyldesley Township Forum from its budget.

Has nobody noticed that the six Victorian lanterns have also gone?

They cost £800 apiece plus £500 to connect each to the electricity supply.

The minute they were lifted I asked where they had gone and got the cryptic reply of ‘recycled’.

In other words gone in the melting pot.

These were cast columns with a life expectancy of more than 100 years and had been there only five years.

The planters and lanterns were purchased after extensive public consultation in Tyldesley.

The township forums were disbanded six years ago under the excuse of a new communities bill in progress.

In reality it was a result of the council cabinet empowering the forums with a scrutiny roll.

As soon as we exercised this roll we were told that it had been unintentional, but the wastage it revealed in the council was alarming – eight or more levels of management, whereas best business practice is two.

Mike Norris

Former joint chairman

Tyldesley Township Forum