Following BJ Butler’s letter (Invest in villages so they have futures, instead of building garden towns), I wanted to pick up a few of the points made.

I agree with the comment that many of Colchester’s villages and hamlets are poorly served by public transport and reliant on car ownership.

However to link this to the closure of shops, post offices and pubs is to miss the point that, as a society, we have changed and no longer use these facilities in the same way we once did.

Tagging an additional 20 houses onto every village and hamlet would not change this reality, and in fact we see this all of the time.

It simply serves to create urban sprawl and does nothing to improve communities.

Nor would it pay for the "sustainable" infrastructure that BJ Butler refers to.

Social infrastructure, a focus on walking and cycling, and investment in top-notch physical infrastructure is exactly what we want to see, and the best way of ensuring this happens, while also meeting our housing needs, is through the creation of larger-scale developments.

Letchworth is referred to – and, yes, this is a good example of what was done in the past – but our ambition is not to create the garden communities of the past, but rather ones fit for the 21st century, that are designed to meet the needs of future generations.

The need for homes is not going to go away, so let’s grasp the nettle and create something that actually helps tackle some of the issues we face.

Cllr Tim Young,

Deputy Leader, Colchester Council