The South Downs National Park should be welcomed with open arms by Brighton and Hove City Council.

How can one council officer have so much power to dictate his terms for a park boundary?

Nigel Green has not consulted the people and is not a democratically elected councillor. He is a public servant.

The council has an unenviable record of highly unsustainable growth. A National Park would help temper this and promote sustainable development.

And what about recycling land? There are many derelict sites within the city crying out for investment and redevelopment.

How far does Mr Green's city boundary need to extend over the next five, ten or 50 years? Will it make Falmer the next Brighton suburb, then Lewes and then head north over the crest of the Downs?

If Mr Green wants to peddle his expansionist agenda, two things are certain: The death of the Downs - which 94 per cent want to protect - and inner-city problems as the centre rots and Brighton loses all sense of local identity and becomes an anytown devoid of a heart, with no green lungs and plenty of deprivation.

-Roy Croft, London Road, Brighton