I MUST take issue with  Mr Underhill's recent letter voicing his support as a businessman for the Northern Quarter development.

His views and use of language send a shudder down my spine. It certainly highlights the gulf between the businessman's perceived pursuit of 'progress' and those who are concerned for the future of Britain's wildlife.

His notion of simply "re-housing" wildlife as if birds, mammals, plants and insects can be shuffled around the country like a nuisance family of humans or sent to a 'better place' is  deeply disturbing and shows a complete ignorance of how habitats and ecosystems naturally evolve and thrive.

Unfortunately this arrogant view seems to be held by plenty of people who are either ignorant of the facts or don't care about them in the face of their idea of progress.

I detect this  selfish attitude when I hear people say that if a new airport was to be built in the Thames Estuary then the wildlife would just move elsewhere.

This is the way it works: If the Northern Quarter development was to go ahead much of the existing wildlife would either be destroyed or displaced and I don't just mean the obvious deer and the boar but a host of insects, plants, mammals and bird species and the disturbance ripples of increased human activity would spread into the neighbouring woodland habitats.

The destroyed and  displaced species existed there for a reason, the specific habitat  of that area allowed them to thrive.

Such wildlife just cannot easily relocate elsewhere like a human would but would die out and perish  and the habitat built on would be lost for good.

Mr Underhill is right that there was "not a lot of uproar about the wildlife being disrupted" when the land at the bottom of Cinderford was being developed starting in the 80s but there certainly should have been.

Fortunately we now live in enlightened times and people are now prepared to stand up to oppose  ruthless business interests from nibbling away at important wildlife habitats and excusing it with  careless,  naive  statements.

Mr Underhill  your statement about being seen to  "harp back to the good old days" shows just how out of touch you are when much of  the rich and diverse  British habitat and wildlife  we had then has been lost already by the actions of people who took your view. Times are changing!

– Nick Christian, Ross-on-Wye.