BEFORE Mr Johnson and the council bulldoze their way through the green belt to try and solve “the housing crisis” I would like to make a plea for sanity.

No one is addressing the fundamental questions of quality of life, or what a sustainable population should be.

We do not have a housing crisis. We have a population crisis.

You cannot build your way out of a continually-growing population – certainly not with the growth we have been experiencing in the last 20 or so years.

Why does no one address this? Both BCP and Britain should be asking, what is a level of population that is sustainable, healthy and that can enjoy a good quality of life?

Is cramming more and more people into overpriced flats with no gardens really progress?

The cost to our health of overcrowding, stress and lack of natural outdoor spaces is horrible.

Let alone the environmental impact of more consumption, pollution, waste and an inability to feed ourselves without huge amounts of imported foods.

Politicians need to think of the long term, not what will make them popular at next voting time.

DAVID DIBBEN

Lincoln Road, Poole