I SO agree with Dorchester campaigners against the monstrous house-building plans for north of the town (Echo, July 22).

The plans are part of a shameful Government scheme to aid housebuilders and ensure their political support, brushing aside designations like Green Belt and AONB.

They are doing this to enrich an industry which has no interest in either housing need or the environment.

Under a former government, planning authorities nationwide were given quotas for the new homes that had to be built annually.

This was one of the ill-devised and politically-driven acts of a silly and trivial administration. It’s time to review these quotas.

How many families have been removed from social housing waiting lists by the availability of new homes for sale in this part of ‘helped to buy’?

This is only a government ploy to ensure that prices don’t drop and that people like me, who are old enough and lucky enough to own a property, don’t fear any damage to our investment.

And, as one very senior Conservative cabinet member said during the coalition government; “I don’t know why we’re even talking about council houses – council houses make Labour voters”.

In Weymouth, as in other towns, housing need should first be addressed by utilising all the empty premises in our town centre, and in other brownfield sites around the borough.

The other day, the county council agreed, formally, that climate change is an emergency.

They should give some thought to what this means; among other issues, like the loss of habitats and the tragic and continuing loss of biodiversity, there is the deterioration of topsoil (according to experts, we only have 100 harvests left!), the actual loss of land by rising water levels and the predicted rise in temperatures

globally, meaning that we can no longer take food security for granted.

This means that land use needs to be regarded quite differently today from when most planning laws were originally set out.

As Dorset Council has agreed that we are in a state of emergency, all land-use proposals should have to be reconsidered.

It would be reckless to go ahead with this, or any other major build without careful scrutiny.

LYNNE CROWE

Fancy’s Close,

Portland