I DISAGREE with James Rolland (April 14).

I and most people in this area have no objection to new homes being built.

We do desperately need housing but I am very concerned because there does not appear to be any increase in the infrastructure to support these new homes.

Colchester General Hospital is already under heavy pressure.

How on earth will it cope with thousands of new homes already being built or in the pipeline?

In addition, we will need new schools and doctors surgeries.

And what about the already busy roads?

They will be even more impossible and the town centre and surrounding roads even more congested.

Linda Powell Stanway

  • We must brave it when it comes to long-term housing

It was disappointing to read Cllr Barber’s letter in which he appears to misunderstand the process the councils involved in the garden communities project are going through.

All of the authorities involved, which includes councillors of every major party including his own, have indicated if the figures do not stack up, then the new communities will not happen.

That is exactly why we are working collectively to explore the proposals.

The workshop held last week was part of this process.

This was not a lack of having a plan, this is ensuring that key stakeholders, in this case ward and parish councillors, as well as a number of local groups, had the early opportunity to give their views on what they would like to see in a community.

The maps and images shown were based on previous workshops and were designed to help stimulate discussion.

The feedback will now help the expert consultants we are working with create further plans, which will again be scrutinised.

Yes, taking forward the garden community proposals is brave.

It’s a game-changer when it comes to housing development, with the councils having the opportunity to design, plan and lead on the development over the next 30 plus years, taking away many of the issues caused by housing developer led developments.

All of the councils, including Essex County Council who are ultimately responsible for much of it, have committed to an infrastructure-first approach, as we know this matters to residents and businesses.

But we need to be brave, and we need to grasp the nettle when it comes to long term housing provision.

If we don’t create these communities, these homes will simply need to go elsewhere, and that piecemeal development, with homes tagged on to existing communities, or recent speculative applications such as the 100-plus home application for Salary Brook.

It is exactly what we want to try and move away from.

Cllr Paul Smith Leader Colchester Council

  • A shame history board is missing

Visitors to Harwich are encouraged to seek further information about the town from signs and plaques.

This, together with a recognized heritage trail (with a guide during the season), really opens up the town’s possibility for exploration.

However, one of the most iconic signs is missing. Can someone please tell me what has happened to the history board behind the fencing of Harwich Dockyard, and adjacent to the bell, which is still in situ?

Whose imagination couldn’t feel stirred by reading of the early days of ship-building carried out here on this site, with a nod to the mid 1650s when its local history began?

Portsmouth, Devonport and Chatham proudly broadcast their achievements, but Harwich more modestly hints at what might be found if the wandering visitor would like to take the trouble to delve further.

I do hope the sign hasn’t been lost permanently.

John Holland MBE Low Road, Dovercourt

  • 'Stayers' should be supporting UK's Brexit vote

The political scene hots up but we still have the stayers - Tony Blair, Michael Heseltine and Tim Farron and co - saying if the electorate had been given all the facts the vote would have been to stay in the EU, completely ignoring that had they been given all the facts when we were asked to vote for joining the EU in the Seventies the vote would almost certainly be to stay as we were.

If the stayers really believe in democracy, now the decision to leave the EU has been taken they should all be helping to make it work and for the UK to prosper. French president Charles De Gaulle, who tried to block our entry into the EU, was correct when he said the UK, even though in Europe, was a different sort of European partner to the rest of Europe.

William Hanes Crown Road, Clacton

  • Colchester is much cleaner than our town

I VISIT Colchester three times a week and the pavements are spotless.

Who decided on the light grey for Clacton town centre walkways?

We have two main walkways and they are always disgusting... stained and dirty.

How can Colchester, with more pedestrians, keep theirs immaculate and we can’t?

Trish Underwood Martello Bay, Clacton

  • Alternative views on aid budget

I ABSOLUTELY agree with David Callow that foreign aid should not be cut.

How are the heads of international charities going to be able to be paid twice as much as the Prime Minister if we start cutting aid.

The Mercedes factory would have to cut production and Harrods would have to lay workers off if our aid money is reduced.

Our aid workers on the ground won’t be very happy being turfed out of the best hotels in these war torn countries.

Why is it for 50 years some people still seem to need Westerners to show them how to dig holes and pipe up clean water.

The world is a strange place.

John Birch Colchester Road, West Bergholt

  • David Callow has it all wrong in my mind in his letter (April 24) when he said all governments should keep on giving our money away to other countries.

I think we should stop trying to look good in the eyes of the rest of the world and start caring for our own.

We suffer cuts on all fronts. They say we might have tax and insurance rises. Our services are all struggling to cope.

We should stop giving our money away when this country is such need of it itself.

Stop cutting this and that, making life hard for the people of this country, and trying to make life so much easier for the people of other countries.

David Mills Horrocks Close, Colchester