REGARDING the proposed development on the Diglis site by Bryant Homes and British Waterways, I am aware of the need for housing in the city and the importance of constructive use of brownfield sites.

I am not against the principle of a development that would replace a somewhat run-down area with good quality housing, associated with a riverside amenity that will benefit visitors, the boating fraternity and local residents.

However, I have a number of serious concerns about the outline plans presented to us the other day by the developer at a public exhibition.

I think the developers are being greedy, packing 550 homes into a relatively small site by the expedient of building high.

Nowhere in the immediate vicinity of the waterfront, or in nearby residential areas, are buildings higher than four storeys.

I think that blocks of five storeys and more will look unsightly, and be out of proportion to the warehouses and canal basin buildings retained for their conservation merit, as well as the nearby Field Terrace Conservation Area.

I maintain there should be fewer and lower buildings, attractive and of good quality, better suited to the city skyline and offering greater scope for amenity spaces and landscaping.

The developers claim a reduction in the traffic flow in Diglis Lane over the last 10 years.

As a local resident I find this very hard to believe as I struggle to cross at the five-way junction by the Albion Public House.

I fear further traffic congestion and noise with 550 more properties, in addition to the new housing being built on the canal side and still to come on the Brooklyn Motors site.

There must be a detailed and independent evaluation of the traffic and access issues, to be sure that the traffic generated by the new housing can be managed.

This is another reason to press for fewer apartments and homes on the Diglis Basin site.

It is good to see the inclusion on the development plans of a riverside boulevard, but there should also be good public access for pedestrians and cyclists throughout the development, with attractive soft landscaping to beautify this important riverside site.

Please let us all be proud of this development and see it as an asset to the city, rather than as something mediocre, driven solely by financial expediency and market forces.

ROBERT WILKINS,

Field Terrace,

Bath Road,

Worcester.