Letter: More homes needed

Sir: If recent history is any guide, the number of homes provided by 2016 in the Southeast is likely to be far short of the 600,000 needed unless there is a change in the planning system ("Land needed for 600,00 homes", 27 May). The Nimbys are well entrenched and have formidable back- up, and so the best tactic is to bypass them.

The elongated conurbation that stretches along the south coast from East Sussex to Dorset provides a model that could be replicated inland along existing motorways. Instead of growing outwards from towns and villages as happened on the coast, they should skirt round the existing villages, leaving gaps of open country at least half a mile wide.

There are about 500 miles of motorway in southeastern England suitable for this treatment. With continuous conurbations about a mile and a quarter wide, they could easily accommodate 600,000 homes without adding to any towns or villages or encroaching on so-called "brownfield" land, much of which should be used for the benefit of people living near it.

PETER HUTCHINSON

London SW15