GREG Ashteron, an American in Malvern, asks how come people are fussing over Hayslan Fields.

They are private land, he says. It's true that they are owned by Malvern St James, but by the quirks of ancient byelaws and usage, there is and always will be a public footpath through the fields up to Sling Lane.

And whoever ends up with the fields will have to maintain a way through for public usage one way or another.

However, it isn't just about dog walkers and kids playing is it? It's about so many fields all over Malvern being seized and built upon, creating disruption of water levels that can lead to flooding.

It's the difficult problem of traffic entering Pickersleigh Road from Hayslan Road and the disruption for those who live in that road.

It's the loss of more and more green spaces, wildlife, beauty and joy in life.

Whenever I step through into Hayslan fields on a walk into town, I leave the hectic noise of Pickersleigh Road behind me and a sense of peace and happiness comes over me, as I am sure it does for others.

It was once full of wild flowers till the land was ploughed over to show 'ownership'.

They are just beginning to return and last time I walked through clouds of butterflies rose from the grasses – a lovely sight.

Malvern has few parks, few places of beauty left now. We who are affected by the Hayslan fields project know that once houses are built on this precious space, the fields behind will follow suit and soon it will just be nothing but a mass of houses.

I left London for that reason – is Malvern to follow suit and become a concrete jungle?

Loretta Proctor

Malvern