I am appalled at Lewes District Council's decision to agree to a change of use to The Sandrock Inn to private dwellings.

This is yet another act of government agreeing to changes that will eventually alter the village community Sussex and many villages in England have had for centuries.

The parish council, the Ditchling Society and the majority of the villagers are opposed to the plan, yet it would appear they are not allowed to make important decisions in their own village.

Andrew Pridell, of Clifford Dann estate agents, comments the pub has not made money for years.

It was making a healthy profit prior to developers purchasing the site. The next two sets of managers installed over the following 15 months had never run a pub before. The first couple was told not to advertise and to limit the stock.

Call me cynical but it would appear to an outsider the pub was deliberately being run down.

Still, I guess Mr Pridell has a vested interest as he is working on behalf of the developers. It's a shame he didn't feel obliged to support a fellow business in the village.

The property developers get fatter and the village poorer by this ridiculous decision. So much for democracy.

-Michael Stratford, High Street, Ditchling