Mr Neale’s letter (bit.ly/2HtrpZi) referring to my own of the previous week (regarding the Riddle – Barwood development) suggests that he misunderstood the point I was trying to make.

To be clear, I have no interest in whether Mr Riddle makes a fortune from his land.

What I do care about is that South Glos has ‘volunteered’ to take a commitment to build some 8,000 houses worth of the City of Bristol’s demand in the draft Joint Spatial Plan, and that Cllr Riddle was Leader when that deal was struck, at a time when his family had an interest in the council committing to as high a number as possible.

What we don’t know is whether Cllr Riddle was at the centre of those negotiations as the council has refused a Freedom of Information request to find out how this deal came about and who was involved.

However, the likely consequence three or four years down the track is that the council will once again find itself unable to show that it has a five-year land supply, which means that Barwood and other developers will be able to acquire planning permission using that legal argument.

This in turn will mean that Thornbury will find itself with yet more speculative housing developments in the absence of any commensurate planned infrastructure or services improvement, which is precisely the concern that Mr Neale is rightly worried about.

Colin Gardner

Buckover, Thornbury