THE Alsager In Focus publication seeks to taunt your humble correspondent with its menacing headline regarding the future of Alsager, or should that be 'Klondike', named after the Canadian gold rush region?

It describes in stark detail how Klondike is to become a focus for any get-rich scheme that you might suggest.

It appears that the majority have no say in this carve-up.

Now the head of the Co-op says he does not mind 400 extra houses here.

They are all lining up to take their bit of the spoils and the actual thing about living here, about caring for it, about the responsibility that we are now being deprived of, well that does not matter.

The Focus says that we are to have a roundabout and a store and that things are in train and that 'people' are 'divided' about the intrusion.

Is there an issue of shopping out of town?

Yes there is. If we shop at the proposed Sainsbury's we are still going to have to get our cars out and even then there is no guarantee they will stock the stuff we need at a price that we think fair.

Whereas the local shops, I mean the ones that you can walk to, have an interest in maintaining the look and feel of the High Street.

If they build the thousands of properties that are in the pipeline they will say that the planning rules suggest that more stores should be built to service them.

If they build a new store they will say that there is enough capacity to service more new houses.

The laws are repellent and the position of the townspeople insubstantial.

There should be no proposal for a store and no hand wringing. The brown field site should be a maintained.

Alsager we are being crucified. Goodbye Alsager; welcome Klondike.

MALCOLM TURNER Alsager