MADAM – Mr Duarte makes a serious point, as has Mr Plenty previously, that we must take the consequences of rising populations seriously.

However, I have to take issue with some of his logic.

Consideration of the relative population density of European Union countries needs to take account of the proportion of uninhabitable territory each has, and he does not mention this.

Although the birth rate to immigrants is 2.28 and to UK-born mothers 1.88, because the latter are much greater in number, the overall figure is still below the replacement rate of two.

So contrary to his claim, the immigration rate must be more significant than the birth rate, at least in United Kingdom terms.

Whether they are here or elsewhere, would-be migrants will consume food, resources and energy.

But are they the main cause of our lost green fields?

I suggest he might look at the trends toward smaller households, the divorce rate, and people living longer and alone in old age as a more significant contributor to the ever-increasing demand for housing.

A sudden reduction in birth rate, as Mr Duarte advocates, would eventually leave a smaller working population supporting an even larger elderly one.

So some balance is needed.

Gerald Hartley

Moreton Valence