THE residents of Penketh will appreciate the renovation of the canal footpaths from Sankey Bridges to Fiddler’s Ferry which is currently being carried out.

I understand that as part of this project, the council is about to fence off the only remaining part of the canal in Penketh.

Another abject waste of council tax by our short-sighted council.

This was originally fenced off at a cost of countless thousands of pounds of taxpayers’ money and the excuse used was that the canal bank was unstable and to prevent somebody falling in, the whole of the canal from east of Ditchfields farm to the Ferry was fenced off, with a 100 metre gap which is now planned to be fenced.

The eyesore was compounded when they fenced off the other side of the canal bordering the railway line.

So we now have a canal which is completely encased in galvanised fencing. If safety is the issue why don’t they use the material from the temporary road they built for access to the path renovation, which will be removed, and fill the canal in?

Additionally they could then scrap the fencing and use the money to repair the thousands of potholes in our roads around Penketh which is more of a hazard.

With due respect I could not imagine the residents around the Bridgewater canal in Stockton Heath or Lymm tolerating this situation and we deserve to be treated the same.

It is the oldest canal in England so let us improve its appearance not clad it in steel.

DAVID MYERS Penketh