and Grahamw, you've knocked it on the head! Not in my back yard!

I live in Forest Hill becasue I love the area, the mix of good quality family homes, both Victorian and 1930's architecture, green spaces, parks, woods, tree lined streets, fantastic views and ease of access to central London. Wow!!!

Development, unless sympathetic to the sourroundings, should be seriously considered and not permitted where there are reasonable objections. Good family houses should not be knocked down to build cheap flats for profit.

It's all too easy to say it's 'morally right' that new housing is built - but you only have to look at the social changes in Peckham and Walworth etc, brought about by building ugly over crowded estates to know that you dont want that in Forest Hill. High density housing combines with a lack of social (pools!!!!) and transport (packed trains!!!) facilities just leads to misery and a poorer quality of life.

Also for someone who has saved and sacrificed to buy a nice house/flat in Forest Hill, does not need the stress of an ugly, cheap, over sized development of 15+ flats built next door where beautiful trees have stood for the past 50 odd years.

There is a government drive to build more houses - but at the same time there is little control over immigration and little in the way of initiatives to minimize the number of single parent familities - so where does it end? I suppose not until we've built over every green space and knocked down every old building of character and architectural interest beacuse it's too big, no longer useful and in the way of progress!