SOME 50 people were on the waiting list for allotments at the end of last year. Yet at the same time The Crow (January 4) publishes a resident s letter relating to a proposal to demolish 16 and 20 Green Drift, Royston, and build 14 houses on two plots. Wh

SOME 50 people were on the waiting list for allotments at the end of last year.

Yet at the same time The Crow (January 4) publishes a resident's letter relating to a proposal to demolish 16 and 20 Green Drift, Royston, and build 14 houses on two plots.

What is going on in a road which when I moved there still had allotment land behind neighbouring gardens.

The plan would result in more land being covered with houses, concrete and other impervious surfaces, all adding to the problems of flooding in the Royston area: nature and wildlife habitats would be destroyed (a town's lungs in planners speak) and then there would be the increase in car use and other traffic in already congested roads - not forgetting disappointment allotment seekers moving into houses with pocket-size gardens.

If Royston needs more houses so desperately why not try to expedite negotiations with Fairview over the development of its land? And it's as well to remember that at the last offer of a railway crossing in Royston, some of the Green Street allotments were withdrawn from cultivation to be used in the proposed construction.

I wholly applaud the strategy of and criteria for registering buildings of local interest in Royston (The Crow, January 4).

I hope the final review includes blocks of domestic buildings which reflect the past history of Royston, such as terrace houses in Queens Road built probably for the railway workers: individually planned house set in useful gardens such as Green Drift and well-designed council homes for social needs, possibly Ermine Close.

All aspects of Royston's historic past should be represented, especially by example of domestic buildings which have been consistently occupied since they were first built.

HAZEL LORD

High Street

Bassingbourn