SIR - The plans for the Middle Battenhall Farm development have been refused twice by Worcester City Council.

Now the residents of Battenhall and Worcester are set to fight another battle to save another green space on the peripheries of our much beloved city.

However, the planners from Miller Homes have the financial backing to persevere and in nearly all cases win these fights.

Does this not question the integrity of the local democratic system? A council that has twice refused these plans continues to be worn down by developers that work tirelessly to scar our city landscapes with endless housing projects.

Worcester and Worcestershire, throughout our history, has been renowned for its natural beauty and lush green fields. It was a place celebrated by the Parliamentarian and Royalist armies for its agricultural fertility and frequented by J.R.R Tolkien and Edward Elgar, both of whom took inspiration from the fertile soils that this county is blessed with.

I stand against these proposals. Our city has been bloated enough by development and congestion which brings with it no prospect of jobs but stands as nothing more than a dumping ground for people that have no emotional attachment or interest in our great heritage. Our green spaces should be protected and preserved.

To those that say they want to see more affordable housing. It never is 'affordable' and once it's gone, we shall never get it back.

Joseph Amos

Worcester