Joss Goulder's letter of June 6 (Look beyond design and character) provides a balanced view of housing requirements in the City – whether developments are to benefit and profit mainly the wealthy few rather than the many in our community.

She highlights the development of a new music school by Peter Symonds in Bereweeke Road.

The college has planning permission to replace a Victorian house with a new facility "with excellent credentials" in biodiversity and heat recovery etc" which will be open to children in the whole of Hampshire.

She also reminds us that Alfred Homes are proposing to demolish another important Victorian house with a large garden in Bereweeke Road and replace that with a set of executive homes.

As I drive through Winchester, the city seems awash with executive homes – from Lockburn Place in St Cross near where I live, up Sleepers Hill, along Chilbolton Avenue and beyond Waitrose on the Stockbridge Road.

Surely we need developers and planners to provide more elegant and affordable flats for first-time buyers.

It is to be hoped that Alfred Homes and other developers think as much about what is profitable for the whole community and for the green environment, as well as their rich buyers and their company profits.

Nick Keith

Kingsgate Mews 

Winchester

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