I HAVE great respect for Cllr David Smith, but his letter in the Echo (20 Nov) is yet another example of this council’s propaganda campaign regarding future development of Wessex Fields.

How does destroying 19,500sq.m of Greenbelt, Conservation Area, high quality farm land, the oldest building in Bournemouth, horse stables, paddocks, wildlife including sand lizards, for a massive junction of phase 2 alone on the West side of the A338, fit in with “maximising the natural environment around it?” That is not including the farm land and Green Belt on the East side.

How does this fit in when it will provide a gateway into the Greenbelt for future development with more roads, housing, commercial developments and most likely a Gypsy/Traveller site, which would complete the destruction of what little Greenbelt we have left?

How does dumping more noise and light pollution on residents of Holdenhurst, Townsend, Littledown, the 60 retired nurses in the National Home and increasing fly parking in local residential areas, fit in with “promoting healthy lifestyles and green spaces?”

How will bringing 1,200 more cars into Wessex Fields not add more congestion on Castle Lane West and Iford?

If Bournemouth can’t sell office space at the Lansdowne near the transport hub, town centre and cliff top (Echo 03 Aug), why carry out all that destruction and hope to sell space in a congested area, near the sewage works, the hospital incinerator and away from the coach/rail stations?

How will hospital access/egress benefit when more traffic is streaming past it along Deansleigh Road in both directions from Chaseside? A second entrance from the A338 could easily be achieved for the hospital alone, but the council is exploiting it to promote their grandiose scheme.

Greenbelt is there to stop towns sprawling outwards and dying in the centre and the Conservation Area to save our heritage for future generations to come. Unwarranted destruction will not “boost the town.”

W SHARP,

Chair,

Holdenhurst Village Parish Meeting

Elm Cottages

Holdenhurst Village