Letters: The Tories must stop the planning rot or risk losing traditional support

SIR – If recent events in our village are a guide, the Tories will have a real fight on their hands to keep the support they have nearly always enjoyed.

Over two years ago, two locals, having been approached by a developer, applied for planning to build two very inappropriately large houses in their gardens. This was vociferously opposed by over 30 local residents, the entire nine-person planning committee of the parish council, the Horsham council planning department and West Sussex council highways authority.

The decision was appealed and nine months later an inspector from central planning in Bristol arrived, took a look at the site for 30 minutes, and approved the plans.

Our MP, who is close to Boris Johnson, now informs me that such “garden grabbing” won’t happen under the new definition of brownfield land in the proposed planning legislation, and that local authorities will be given powers to prevent it “where appropriate”. All a bit late for our village. We are not in quite the same political situation as Chesham and Amersham, but the protest could spread.

I could never vote for the wishy-washy Lib Dems, and the socialists have no chance, but I will absent myself from elections until this Government shows that levelling up will not in fact become levelling down.

The writing is on the wall.

David Neeson
West Chiltington, West Sussex

SIR – Following the Chesham and Amersham by-election, I am left wondering how we will ever build both the houses necessary to keep a lid on prices, and the major infrastructure needed to ensure Britain remains competitive in global markets.

It seems a cohort of voters who have benefited handsomely from affordable houses and infrastructure built after the Second World War are intent on voting for whoever opposes similar development needed by following generations. A lot of these will be people who received free university education, gain from the pensions triple-lock promise, and currently enjoy defined benefit pensions.

This country faces lots of problems, including long-term social care and climate change, and many of these are inter-generational. All raise questions, but I struggle to believe that voting Lib Dem will ever be the correct answer to any of them.

Ian Mackenzie
Preston, Lancashire

SIR – You ask how we can build houses without spoiling beauty spots. The answer is to force builders to incorporate beauty, or at least charm, into the homes they build.

In our village, our deservedly well-regarded local builder has done just that in two recent developments. All the houses, including the affordable ones, delight the eye.

Housing ministers would do well to visit and see that it can be done.

Bob Russell
Brighstone, Isle of Wight

Pensions peril

SIR – The Government is considering reducing the pensions lifetime allowance – the amount that people can save without incurring tax – from a little above £1 million to £800,000 or £900,000.

It should be careful about this. Many senior hospital doctors are close to or above the current cap. After giving their all during the Covid crisis, then being offered a meagre pay rise as thanks, many are considering reducing their NHS hours or retiring early. This will only make the backlog of cases worse.

John Whitehead
Stanghow, North Yorkshire

Low-traffic pollution

SIR – I try to visit my grandchildren in south-east London each week. This involves a car journey of about 40 miles that, pre-pandemic, took about one hour and 40 minutes.

However, since the introduction of low-traffic neighbourhoods (LTNs), the last mile now takes 20 to 40 minutes, during which I am stuck in mostly motionless traffic.

LTNs are not a solution but another problem. Forcing traffic on to already overloaded trunk routes is causing additional pollution, not reducing it. I can easily quantify the extra noxious fumes generated per journey by my increased fuel consumption.

Alan Greer
Maidenhead, Berkshire

Dog days

SIR – Mike Gilbert (Letters, June 18) wonders how dogs spend their time.

I would refer him to the wonderful book A Dog Day by Walter Emanuel (1902), exquisitely illustrated by Cecil Aldin.

Although written in a different time, much of it still resonates with me as I observe my Patterdale terrier, particularly the entry for 10 to 10.15: “Wagged tail.”

Wendy Farrington
Ivinghoe, Buckinghamshire

SIR – Since arriving here from Romania, Miss Betsy has had a very full timetable.

Roles willingly undertaken include: vacuum cleaner, pest controller, personal trainer (she ensures we both do at least 15,000 steps every day), mental health counsellor, bouncer (in the event of unwanted callers) and in-house entertainer.

I’d say she earns her keep.

Pat Stone
Ingatestone, Essex

Bomber Harris tribute

SIR – English Heritage’s online entry for Sir Arthur Harris’s statue, which is under our care, pays generous tribute to an outstanding war leader. It does indeed refer to the area bombing campaign, pointing out that this was initiated by the War Cabinet, not by Harris himself. It was controversial at the time, even among Sir Arthur’s fellow officers, and remains so today.

It is right that the issue should be discussed. I urge everyone to go online and read the research for themselves.

Sir Tim Laurence
Chairman, English Heritage
London EC2

SIR – English Heritage says that some people think Sir Arthur Harris’s “bombing of German cities, with large numbers of civilian casualties, was a war crime”. I doubt that few, if any, of such fashionable-thinking folk lived in London as I did in the 1940s, to watch the angry orange and red flames rearing high, night after night, into the sky over the East End as docks, warehouses and homes burned.

Thank heavens someone was sufficiently “unequivocal, blunt and uncompromising”, as English Heritage calls Bomber Harris. And above all, thank the bomber crews whose sustained courage enabled us to strike back in the only way then available.

Nigel Stocks
Harpenden, Hertfordshire

Covid escape fee

SIR – I have returned from France and booked and paid for the Covid PCR tests on days two and eight. If I paid another £90 I could be released from quarantine on day five, if that test was negative. However, if I don’t take that and use the eight-day test I must wait another two days, even if that test is negative, before being released from the 10-day quarantine.

Is there some mysterious algorithm responsible for this calculation?

Geoff Smith
Lymm, Cheshire

SIR – It was demoralising to read the letter from Sue Hardy (June 17). Both her children, in their 20s, are at such low risk from the Covid-19 virus that they cannot have the AstraZeneca vaccine because it presents a very small risk of blood clots.

I do not blame members of the public who still have fears. It’s the Government and its advisers, who have cynically misled the British people with their presentation of the data, who must carry responsibility for this irrational fear.

Dr David Walters
Burton Bradstock, Dorset

Inflexible rail tickets

SIR – The new flexible rail ticket is not very flexible.

A book of eight return tickets from Welwyn Garden City to London is £140.40 (valid for 28 days). This replaces the flexible carnet ticket that Great Northern has provided for years, where a book of 10 peak outward, and 10 off-peak returns costs £148 (valid for 90 days).

James Dunmore
Welwyn Garden City, Hertfordshire

Sitting ducks

SIR – Two weeks ago I bought a bench for my husband’s birthday.

We placed it under a shady tree in the garden. I wonder if anyone has warned the Duchess of Sussex (report, June 21) about the risk from birds.

We’ve since moved the bench.

Sue Mitchell
Peterborough

A ban on halogen bulbs isn’t such a bright idea

SIR – The banning of halogen light bulbs is another case of politicians entering a field they don’t understand.

In 2007, Tony Blair and other EU heads decided to ban incandescent bulbs. In the laboratory, only about 15 per cent of the energy input to an incandescent light bulb ends up as light; the rest ends up as heat, and makes them theoretically inefficient. In practice, however, we use lights overwhelmingly between October and March. Not surprisingly, that’s when we use our house heating. Thus the heat from incandescent bulbs is not wasted, but helps to heat the house.

Raymond Marsh
Winchester, Hampshire

SIR – If the Government bans halogen light bulbs, it must ensure equivalent LED bulbs are available.

I have a small table lamp that can be dimmed but I discovered that non-dimmable bulbs do not function properly without flickering. It is hard to find a dimmable LED bulb.

Chris Yates
Peasedown St John, Somerset

SIR – When we had our kitchen refurbished in 2009, we had six 50-watt spotlights installed. I soon discovered that not only were they using a lot of electricity, but they also overheated the holders. As soon as I discovered LED spotlights I replaced the bulbs and changed the power supplies. The electricity savings have paid for them many times over. I have also replaced all incandescent bulbs with LED equivalents and I replace compact fluorescents with LEDs when they fail.

The only drawback is that they are made in China.

Roger Jackson
Stockport, Cheshire

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