SHOW RESOLVE: I truly hope that the representatives on Newcastle Borough Council will show sufficient resolve to throw out the recommendations of the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) and the planning officials to dismantle the sad remnants of Silverdale railway station.

It is not merely for nostalgic reasons that we should consider the retention and protection of the residual railway infrastructure, but also for the very purposeful reason of restoring rail connectivity to Newcastle.

While Silverdale itself surely deserves the reinstatement of a railway service, it is not widely known that Newcastle is the largest town in Britain without a railway station. The recent document published by the Association of Train Operating Companies, 'Connecting Communities', has identified a case to be considered for the re-opening of Madeley station.

Staffordshire County Council has also shown some interest in getting rail back into Newcastle. Your readers may also be interested to know that Biddulph has also been identified as an area which could benefit from a connection to the network, presumably via Milton Junction on a re-opened Stoke-Leek line.

With all this exciting potential for public transport development, remote quangoes such as the HCA should be advised to be extremely cautious when considering initiatives which impinge on local sensitivities.

K EDMONDSON Harpfields