Warren Morgan (Letters, July 12) takes issue with my critical thinking concerning "modernisation" by saying it is "a defence of conservatism, in itself an attempt to preserve an idealised vision of the past that never really existed".

Tosh. I am hugely idealistic but my visions are future-based and include the word "improvement" to go with "change" in order to become "modern" worth having and keeping.

Interestingly - something for Mr Morgan to get alarmed about and ponder - that very icon of modernity the motorway has, in the form of a Hastings bypass, just been turned down by the Government.

I wonder why? Just because an interesting idea presents itself doesn't mean you have to embrace it and commit metaphorical or, in this case, environmental suicide.

-Valerie Paynter, The Drive, Hove