How the Queen could ease the housing crisis

AS I DRIVE around what was once proudly named the Garden of England, I am saddened to see estate after estate of new houses being tacked on to every village and small town.

Anything from 50 to 250 houses cover the green fields and woodland that used to be a feature of Kent. The orchards and hop farms have long gone, sacrificed to property developments.

Roads can’t cope with the huge increase in traffic, we need extra schools, and GP surgeries and local hospitals are under pressure. The protection of the Green Belt is a distant memory politicians have conveniently forgotten.

Yes, we need more homes, but there are other solutions. I support the idea of converting empty High Street shops (Mail).

How about the more radical idea of asking the landed gentry to find a small corner on their vast estates for new homes?

Maybe the Royal Family could sacrifice a few acres to help solve this crisis. It would be a generous gesture and the developments could be built in such a discreet manner that they would be barely noticed by the landowners. KATe MANNING, Wittersham, Kent.

I’m speechless!

COMPLETE silence in school corridors (Mail)? Good luck with that. Having worked in education for 20 years and also served as a school governor, I recognise the need for rules of behaviour.

However, I do wonder how hardworking staff will find the time and opportunity to supervise such a ridiculous regime? Perhaps they will gag the children or bug the communal walkways.

This ban is oppressive and impracticable. I give it a week.

AMANDA YATeS, Newcastle upon Tyne.

Bank withdrawals

FIRST, they came for the Post Offices, then they came for the banks (Letters).

My town once had six sub-post offices, now it has none. We had five different bank branches; now, you’ve guessed it, we have none. It seems that local communities have been told to get lost by financial institutions that are in business only to make a profit.

When the next bank crash occurs, I hope that No 10 refuses a bail-out.

FRANK SCHOFIeLD, Royton, Gtr Manchester. I AGREE that a simple name check would beat bank scammers (Mail), but I don’t know why this move has taken so long.

In 2004, I started sending money by bank transfer to my goddaughter in Brazil. As well as supplying the account holder’s name, branch, sort code and account number, I had to give a National Insurance number.

They checked that all the data matched a bank account in Brazil before they sent any money.

Contrast that with my recent experience when I wanted to transfer money from my Nationwide account to a fellow customer. The bank refused to confirm whether the account details I gave them matched a name on their files.

ROGeR SMITH, Croydon, Surrey.

Leader with backbone?

THE Government is paralysed. None of the Tory Brexit bigwigs, such as Boris Johnson or Jacob Rees-Mogg, wants to be prime minister because that would mean picking up a poisoned chalice.

If enough Labour MPs vote for May’s Chequers plan, it will go through and we will be trapped in a never-ending transition.

Unless someone with backbone steps forward, our goose is cooked.

SANDRA HAYWOOD, Kirkby-in-Ashfield, Notts.

Easy target

IT IS outrageous that former soldiers are being hounded over events in Northern Ireland during the Troubles. The police would serve the public better by investigating historical killings of innocent civilians, servicemen, police and prison officers during the IRA murderous bloody campaign, many of which remain unsolved to this day.

No one should be allowed to get away with murder, but this witch-hunt smacks of finding an easy target. DAVID ORCHIN, Houghton-le-Spring, Tyne & Wear.

Keep nature in trim

THE trend to encourage wildlife by turning your garden into a wilderness is an urban myth. My garden has trees, shrubs and plants chosen to look attractive.

It is visited by dozens of birds, from hawks and woodpeckers to nuthatches and wrens, bees, butterflies, rabbits, hedgehogs, weasels and a stray cat.

The lawn is short and every border is weed-free. Making your garden look like an overgrown field might encourage rodents, but it appears that wildlife would prefer a nice place to visit.

Name supplied, Preston.

The frozen limit

CONGRATULATIONS to those who thought chucking a chest freezer in the Wyrley & Essington canal would enhance this beauty spot. The water fowl will no doubt find it an excellent addition, as will the barges and fishermen.

How hard would it have been to take it to a scrapyard or phone the council rubbish collection service? Fly-tippers are turning Britain into one great big rubbish dump.

TONY LeVY, Wednesfield, W. Mids.

A sight at the opera

ELAINE PAIGE’S lament that theatres are packed full of scruffy herberts (Mail) reminds me of my granddaughter, who lives on a ranch in Montana.

The last time she went to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, she wore jeans and cowboy boots.

Back home, she wore the same outfit to a semi-professional midweek performance of La Traviata. Oops! Everyone else was in bow ties and evening dress.

Perhaps Elaine should move to Montana.

PAULINe WALLeR, Luton, Beds.