I WAS disappointed on reading, in last week’s Wiltshire Times, that one of your correspondents is affronted by the suggestion that the Hilperton Gap is perceived as “amenity land”. I fear this is the subject of much misunderstanding.

The Gap, which is criss-crossed by sundry public rights of way, has been a part of the area’s heritage for many years – certainly more than a century – based on my own family’s recollections (and I am the third generation of my family to live here). It is what makes Hilperton and Hilperton Marsh what they are; if no longer ‘truly rural’ then at least semi-rural.

I cannot argue with the fact that some objectors to further development are themselves the occupiers of homes built on previously green space and I remember how sad I felt then when acre after acre was swallowed up by housing developments in the 1960s.

That being as it may, this should not set a precedent for every available plot to be covered by the units of human misery created by high-density housing on vulnerable sites. Should we not be looking at quality of life here? By indiscriminate building, we are in danger of killing the goose which lays the golden egg.

As for the suggestion that HGAG and local councillors should purchase the land themselves if they wish to influence its use, perhaps they should do just that! There was a recent case where patches of land, one foot square, were offered to ‘investors’ in order to bring the land into community ownership. It worked! The appeal went viral and money came flooding in from all over the world.

However, there would need to be a covering clause to ensure the land was valued at agricultural rates – which presumably were what was initially paid for it. Not the reported £2.64 million paid recently by a developer for land at the south (Horse Road) side of The Gap (source: The Land Registry). I understand the purchaser has connections in the tax-haven of Bermuda.

I very much doubt the vendors’ families will experience difficulty in finding affordable housing in the area. Say no to housing in the Hilperton Gap.

Mary Tapping, Horse Road, Hilperton Marsh