SIR – Mr Harrison (Letters, January 14) appears to be under the delusion that green fields are mere ornaments. For our food production, they are just as vital to the future of the country as houses.

Can we believe that just for this once we should sacrifice some of these precious resources when we know full well that in the next round more will be demanded? Isn’t it time we faced up to reality?

If the population does continue to grow we will need not fewer fields, but more of them. That means that our homes will have to be increasingly smaller. Perhaps the time will come when all gardens will have to be put to crop production and the growing of flowers will be a punishable offence.

Peter Bolton, Middlefield Court, East Morton