I’m sorry to see Richard Drax using his column in the Echo for a rant against his former employer of nine years, the BBC.

Richard - this column is not designed for your party propaganda but for news of what you are doing in the constituency.

It’s great to see my MP Chris Loder on the Echo front page with his petition against the grotesque Norchester plan for 4,000 housing units above the watermeadows in Dorchester, increasing the size of the town by half and bringing another 2000+ more cars.

What do you think about Dorset’s ill-thought out Local Plan Richard? Are you happy with your government forcing 30,000-39,000 houses on our green and pleasant land in 17 years - the equivalent of two Dorchesters, two Poundburys, two Littlemoor estates and a dozen or so new villages.

Do we want an additional 100,000 people living, or owning a house here using our hardpressed hospitals and medical services and filling our roads with 40,000 more cars?

Or do we need small scale housing development in Dorset to meet our needs for affordable homes for local people and to be sensitive to our precious environment which is the reason why people come here?

ALASTAIR NISBET

Dorchester