After attending Fenland District Council’s planning meeting last week I was amazed at the speed at which the houses for Berryfield were rubber-stamped.

That is especially after listening to the debate about plans for six houses on the site of the old pub in Thorney Toll being turned down.

It is a site like the old pub, which is an eyesore, that should be built on – not valuable farmland.

To think the council has endorsed the developer to destroy valuable arable farm land is beyond me. Only in last week’s edition did we have Councillor Alan Lay stating that the country can only supply its own food for eight months a year.

As anyone who has to travel over Station Road level crossing will tell you, this road is a nightmare at the best of times. Add in to the mix 30 more houses (a possible increase in traffic of more than 60 cars) and you will see the problem – not to mention the increase in rail traffic.

Every day children will have to use Station Road to get to any March school, that’s more cars for the morning rush hour. The Berryfield end of town has no GP surgery, dentist or even a corner shop.

Councillor Will Sutton is out of touch with reality if he thinks that an increase in traffic will have no effect on the highways.

Last year during the flooding, Berryfield did in fact flood. We had raw sewage flowing in the roads. The more area we concrete over, the less land there is for water to soak into, so I fear for the future of Berryfield.

This area is alive with wildlife – we have bats flying around in the evening, foxes and owls and even the occasional deer. What effect will this have on the wildlife population?

Now we hope that the archaeology survey will unearth some valuable findings.

MARTYN LANCASTER

Berryfield, March

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