My family has lived in and around Dorchester for many centuries.

Like Thomas Hardy, I am an architect, initially trained in a local practice, but qualified at architectural college.

I was both honoured and privileged to serve as a local government officer, in the town of my birth, with both county and district councils and, from 1974 until 1997, I was West Dorset District Council Architect.

As a native Durnovarian I am concerned that the South Walk is at severe environmental and visual risk from the proposed WDDC office building.

The Walks are a fine stand of chestnuts producing a green canopy generally lined on the town side by the rear gardens of two to two-and-a-half storey houses and villas behind densely-planted green gardens, which all but screen the villas from the Walks.

None of the houses or villas front directly onto the Walks.

The trees and the gardens give the Walks the special character of a ‘green lane ‘around the entire line of the old Roman town The proposed office building is extremely large, is a full four storeys high and has an unbroken continuous frontage to the Walks of 150 metres.

From the developer’s drawing it is difficult to imagine just how large this building will be.

If built it will be the longest and tallest building in Dorchester and probably in any town in West Dorset.

Use Google Earth or Bing Maps to make real comparison between the frontage of the proposed building and the length of well-known landmark structures.

You will discover that the proposed building is; l As long as lower South Street from New Street to the corner, l As long as County Hall is wide, east to west including the Grove side car park l About half the length of the Palace of Westminster, or the same length as the House of Commons.

In the context of the Walks, a building of such proportions will be nothing less than a destructive environmental disaster.

Perhaps Echo readers can find some other interesting comparisons; cathedrals and power stations might be a productive search area.

Never in my worst nightmare did I ever expect my local authority to use vast sums of our public money to destroy what is the most precious gift of history to the town ‘The Walks’.

David Oliver, RIBA, Address supplied,Dorchester