THE offer of six acres of agricultural land at Newland as a possible site for the new Malvern hospital is clearly a thinly-veiled attempt to get planning permission for a large and lucrative housing development on the adjacent land.

This is a time-wasting diversion and should be dismissed out of hand.

Seaford Court is an excellent location for a hospital, having both a railway station and buses nearby.

Siting the new hospital at Newland will (like the Worcestershire Royal Hospital) mean that patients and visitors will have to use a car to get there. There is ample room on the Seaford Court site for a new hospital and future expansion provided the PCT doesn't sell off part of the site.

As the PCT continues its quest for funds to build our new hospital, it's worth noting that last year this country spent £910 million on the Iraq war. That's over £17 million each week!

KEITH BERRY, Nursery Road, Malvern.