IF we are to believe popular myth in past days desperate men turned to highway robbery, none more infamous than Dick Turpin, and they supposedly offered their victims a choice – ‘their money or their life’.

Faced with that choice perhaps many of those victims felt relief at only losing their money.

Well it appears our own version of Dick is alive and well and working in Warrington as the project manager for the Western Link.

He offered six options that all threatened people’s homes and adversely affect their lives.

He then, like Prince Charming or some super hero, makes it all better by announcing with the backing of a massive 32 per cent support figure that he has proposed the rather logical and obvious red route and has amended it to make it even better at a mere 35 per cent increase in cost.

Both he and his council masters think we should be pleased about that, yet they all seem to forget they have already caused widespread anxiety, worry and turned communities on themselves.

Still what is an extra £50 million to come from the public purse, oh yes that’s right it is not their money, it is the Government’s public purse.

But highwaymen were driven by greed or just need.

What of Warrington?

Is this scheme really driven by the need to provide the town’s much needed congestion relief, or is it to facilitate the development of yet more homes and Port Warrington with the resultant increases to the council tax coffers?

The real discussion should not be about which route, but the real need or is it greed?

I may be a cynic but I am not a luddite, if we are to have meaningful choices and sensible public consultation on such important issues then we should be provided with the information to make these choices, such as the traffic modelling and the business case constituents, yet to date these have not been provided.

ANDIE HARPER Saxon Park resident