ALLAN Charlesworth in his letter of October 22 misunderstands my views if he believes I support plans for massive house building on the green belt I most certainly do not.

I support a rolling back of the excessive regulatory burden which is the root cause of the housing problem. Builders will not build if it is not worth it. The unrealistic obligations on brownfield sites is the reason that they remain undeveloped for years.

Labour’s proposal to allocate green belt land is a desperate attempt to bypass the problem.

They are hoping that farmland can be bought by big housebuilding companies at a price that allows their blackmail demands to be met.

My point is twofold.

Firstly, that the farmland will not be worth anything like the what some people think when these matters are included in the equation. Secondly, that if landowners and farmers are expected to give up their holdings and their livelihoods, it is only right and proper that they should be properly compensated for it.

That includes tenant farmers as well as freeholders.

Matthew Laverack, Well informed of this parish, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York.