Letters to the editor: Build on brownfield not green belt

Building executive homes on the belt won’t help potential first-time buyers
Jonathan Brady/PA
16 November 2015
WEST END FINAL

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It is misguided to argue that building on the green belt will solve the capital’s housing problems [“Let’s build on green belt to ease squeeze on commuters”, Comment, November 12]. We desperately need more affordable homes but building executive homes on the belt won’t help potential first-time buyers.

The work of the new Land Commission Russell Lynch mentions, in compiling a list of brownfield sites to build on, is more likely to help generate suitable housing with at least 300,000 homes close to the capital’s workplaces and amenities.

Releasing just a small percentage of green belt sounds easy but once bits of the green belt are removed, its benefits, such as protecting against flooding and access to the countryside, start to disappear. With the capital’s population bigger than ever, it’s vital the green belt continues to provide those benefits.
Paul Miner, planning campaign manager, Campaign to Protect Rural England (CPRE)

Russell Lynch makes a flawed economic argument for large-scale building on London’s green-belt land. There are no easy answers but building in London’s inner commuter zone is a particularly poor option.

As Mr Lynch correctly points out, London and its commuter zone are mutually interdependent, and that relationship is built on the railways. Unfortunately railway capacity, a factor of train length and frequency, is essentially finite.

Many lines into London from Essex and Kent are close to maximum potential capacity, with huge increases expected in the coming decades.

One key reason, now largely forgotten, for creating the green belt was to stop London’s transport infrastructure from being overwhelmed by growth around the periphery. Sixty years on, the conclusions should remain broadly the same.
Alasdair Daw

Russell Lynch has proposed building on green-belt land but I do not want my countryside to be built on.

I’m not sure people realise that once that happens, it will be gone for ever — and doing so will threaten our wildlife.

In the next few decades, the population of the UK will reach 70 million people, according to the latest ONS statistics. We should be having an honest conversation about how to control our growing population, not building on the green belt.
Nichola Carter

Given our situation regarding open borders and high immigration, the demand for extra housing is quite insatiable.

Trying to meet this will only lead to more congestion and pollution on our already overcrowded roads, as well as an overload of passengers on public services.
Richard Casselle

Spend time in Paris to show support

As a gesture of solidarity to Parisians, perhaps Londoners could go on a short break in Paris — making a special point of enjoying its attractions and spending money in shops and restaurants. This would give practical support to our fellow capital city and affirm its role as a centre of civilisation and culture.
Richard Heller

While we send our thoughts and prayers to the people of Paris in the wake of the atrocious terrorist attacks, we also need to thank Britain’s security services for working hard, day in, day out to keep us safe. Many planned attacks have been prevented in the past — it is thanks to them that Britain has been kept safe since 2005.
Patryk Malinski

The diplomatic conversations in Vienna to end the Syrian war give a good opportunity to plan an international response to the massacre in Paris. There is only one issue to be faced — eradicating IS. A coalition using overwhelming force is our only hope of preventing any more repetitions of this outrage.
Andrew

Give up your Tube seat to mums-to-be

I love the buzz, the hype and the never-ending street lights in London. But since I became pregnant I’ve been embarrassed to call myself a Londoner. At first I thought it was silly to wear the “Baby on board” badge, but friends encouraged me to take the plunge. Sadly, I quickly learned that London didn’t love me as much as I loved it. I was never hoping for the entire carriage to rise, but sometimes a seat would have been nice. After all, I’ve been wearing this stupidly obvious badge and people can clearly see me.

I can probably count the number of people who offered me their seat on one hand. To those people I want to say thank you — they probably have no idea how much that small gesture reminded me that I wasn’t alone, and that London does still have a heart.
Jessica Reece

Historic companies are a force for good

In his article, Chris Blackhurst [Business, November 11] questions whether it is vital that a historic company survives after failure — the answer is yes. A company that will come and go in less than a generation won’t have built the same links and investment in the wellbeing of the society in which it is rooted. The UK has exemplars such as Linney Group, Wates and John Lewis — and in Japan there are more than 20,000 firms that are more than 100 years old.

We should not underestimate the part that long-lived, well-led companies play as a force for good.
Mark Goyder, Tomorrow’s Company

Enterprise as British as public service

Richard Godwin is wrong to imply that the public sector is synonymous with being British [November 11]. What about the millions working in the private sector? According to the Office for National Statistics, in the second quarter of 2015 there were 25.7 million people in private sector employment in the UK, dwarfing the 5.4 million in the public sector.

While there is no doubt the public sector provides services from which we all benefit, private sector workers’ grit, graft and aspiration through enterprise are what being British has always been all about.
Toby Farmiloe

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