Transactional letter

Dear Sir or Madam:

I'm writing about an article I've seen in your newspaper. It is the one about the demonstation this last weekend. I'm a member and representative of the group 'Together as one" that was protesting, and, what is on the article is not quite how the facts developed.

First, it is true that we were protesting against the building of the by-pass because it will lead to the destruction of the "Hendersonia occulta" or more commonly known as the cherrystone drop snail -which is at risk-, but it will also lead to the destruction of hundreds of trees. Both are perfectly thoughtful reasons.

Second, there were over 2000 people -not just 200 as the article says- and we were all sitting quietly. Some people brought their own signs, but it all happened in a orderered peaceful way. It was a silent demonstration.

And lastly, there is a mayor mistake in saying that all of the 'troublemakers' were youngsters from other parts of the country. Nearly all of the people in the demostration were locals from all the ages that came to support us.

So, In order to get a realistic idea of what the demonstration was -since the spokesman for Oldbury's council did not give consistent information-, what I recommend, is to send a reporter to Oldbury to have a conversation with me -the representative of the group- and some locals, so we can construct the article from the experiences of people that witnessed the facts as they were and not just mere opinions.

Yours Sincerely,


Nelson Retamal
TAO Representative