I HESITATE to cross swords with my old school friend Michael Wheller, who I assume from his letter (June 11) is not enamoured of the houses going up on the old fire station site.

I suppose taste in architecture is like taste in anything, subjective, and so Poundbury-style houses are not going to appeal to everyone.

If, however the alternative was some unsightly block on the lines of the adjacent municipal offices, then I plump for Poundbury any day.

The problem is that the Planning Committee was not, I imagine, faced with a wide range of innovative and stunning schemes by a cutting edge architect from which to choose. Developers of such sites rarely employ imaginative architects.

They want to get the cheapest scheme past the planners, put the buildings up and sell them on, to a usually conservative market.

One cannot blame any particular individual.

Poundbury style was a reaction to the often hideous buildings that mar many towns today.

Richard Samways

Albert Terrace

Portland