STAN Nagel (Letters, November 23) has homed in on the reason for the problems in road repair and rubbish collection in Trafford:it is that the local politicians are more concerned about retaining their council positions, than they are about the state of the borough.

The result is that in Altrincham, there is uncollected rubbish in the streets, bins blocking the pavements waiting to be emptied, footpaths and roads with cracks and potholes, and non-functioning drains: but what does that matter,as long as councillors retain their seats, and the Leader can go off to Beijing, presumably to see how the Chinese do it?

We have been told that the money for the redevelopment of the town centre was 'ring fenced',but what about non 'ring fenced' money that should previously have been put aside for such future plans?

No doubt that helped to fund the Beijing jaunt ! Yes,the Town Centre, and about 100 metres of Railway Street have been improved, but there were far greater priorities than those.

The "improvement" to Railway Street has only resulted in a slowing down of traffic flow, thereby increasing atmospheric pollution in that area.

What is needed is a radical overhaul of the way traffic flows in and around Altrincham:it is not an easy problem to solve, as Frank Bamford pointed out in his book on Altrincham in the 1990s, but it will not be solved by minor tinkering, as in the case of Railway Street.

I can hardly feel that things will improve by the creation of another shopping centre on Oakfield Road.

David Olliver, Altrincham