I LIKE to think I’m a reasonable man. I may have strong opinions but I also think I’m thoughtful enough and morally flexible enough to admit when I’ve made a mistake.

And now I’m ready to admit to not one but two errors.

The first one is somewhat trivial but I think my second error may be a bit more significant.

Let’s get the first one out of the way.

A couple of months ago, I passed comment about the new monolithic car park that replaced the old market car park.

I thought the gold and brown geometric design made it one of the ugliest buildings in town.

In my defence, I wrote that before the building was finished.

I still don’t think it is a particularly pretty edifice but now it is finished, I am prepared to admit it is a striking building.

I still think it looks like it is on a bigger scale than the rest of the town but perhaps that will be addressed when the work is finished on the old market site.

While the Time Square car park is on my agenda, I have two questions.

Firstly, why is it not open on Sundays?

And secondly, why are drivers ignoring the fact that stretches of road past the car park along Academy Way are bus lanes?

It seems the bus lane signs are being considered as nothing more than a suggestion.

I wonder whose responsibility it is to police it.

I owe my second apology to Warrington South MP Faisal Rashid.

Last year I attended a number of meetings where residents joined forces to fight plans for the Western Link road.

At the time there were six prospective routes on the table and protest groups sprang up to variously fight the plan in its entirety or against the route that would have the greatest impact on their own home.

I made no secret of the fact that had the so-called Orange Route gone ahead, it had the potential to affect my own house.

It was during this time of protest, I went to a meeting at Crosfields club that was addressed by Mr Rashid.

To be completely honest, after listening to Mr Rashid speak for 10 or 15 minutes, I was none the wiser about exactly what his views were on the plans.

Frankly, I found this all a little disappointing. I wanted leadership. I wanted clarity.

I didn’t want fudge, I didn’t want obfuscation but that’s what we got.

Frankly, Mr Rashid went down in my opinion.

Fast forward a few months and we now have all the clarity we could ever need from Mr Rashid.

Look what he told the Guardian: “I am required to make decisions that have future implications for the town and may not always be the most popular or easiest decisions to make.

“I represent over 88,000 constituents and so I have to ensure that any projects coming forward benefit the wider community.

“As it stands, our roads are not fit for purpose and the problems we have with congestion are only set to get worse. What is clear is that doing nothing is not an option.

“The Warrington Western Link project would provide the town with a second-high level crossing of the Manchester Ship Canal, improving connectivity between the north and south of the town.

“It would also free up brownfield sites for housing, helping to protect green belt land from development.”

So there you have it, an MP prepared to put his head above the parapet, take on an emotive issue and say what he really believes.

Sorry for doubting you, Mr Rashid.

Just as a matter of interest, the previous Warrington South MP David Mowat did something similar when he went against public opinion and came out in favour of LiveWire’s plans to replace libraries with so-called ‘lending lockers’.

I admired him for taking a considered stance even though I didn’t agree with him.

Let’s just hope Mr Rashid has a better outcome than Mr Mowat.