When the Government first announced its proposal for a massive increase in housing in the South-East, it was widely questioned and opposed.

Throughout the consultation, people made it clear they thought it perverse to try to tackle the problems of an already overcrowded area by increasing the population density even further.

But did the Government and its regional assembly take any notice? Not a jot!

Clearly stating that the huge increase in housing is going ahead regardless, they are now "consulting" us on where it should all be squeezed in.

We should not play their cynical game. Let's respond to this stage of consultation by saying we do not accept the outcome of the previous stage.

Why should we debate where all the extra housing is to go if we still believe the premise is wrong and the region's infrastructure simply cannot cope with the scale of it?

We should give them a resounding "No, not here!"

They will shout Nimby of course - but if we don't protect our back yards, who will? Clearly not the short-sighted politicians and planners whose lack of vision allows commercial greed to ride roughshod over public opinion and commonsense.

-Ray Chandler, Shoreham