MADAM – I have read with interest your reports on local planning issues and the interviews with local political figures on the subject of planning.

I have to conclude that, as usual, it is all someone else’s fault, the previous government, some other political party locally, and so on.

Meanwhile, local land owners and developers are rushing into the vacuum created to make money as fast as possible.

I have no desire to see the open land of the Nailsworth Valley defiled with new houses next to my property on Pike Lane and the only people I have met who I would like to see building here are the developers, the architect, the landscape architect and a few people who would like to live in the houses.

This field is part of an open space within a couple of minutes walk of the town centre and there aren’t many places like that anymore.

Building here would be a sad loss to the community.

The road from Nailsworth to Shortwood is very narrow in most places, but is particularly so on Pike Lane, which results in vehicles having to back up and manoeuvre to get past each other.

I have seen evidence of traffic surveys being done around here and feel that, as the schools are on holiday and many families away, these surveys are not going to show a realistic view of the problem.

Would it be cynical to ask if this is deliberate?

The plan to put 17 houses here is going to add massively to the traffic problem.

The proposed mix of houses does not convince me that they will enable young people to get on the housing ladder.

We ought to be able to rely on the local planners to see that the development is a bad idea and kill the whole thing before it gains any credence.

What purpose do the planners serve if they can’t protect our valued local spaces from development?

I L Rushton

Nailsworth