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Local people, including Jeremy Bamforth, (Gases to be released from mudflats deserve to be taken seriously, February 18) need to read these multiple Environmental Impact Assessments about the Tipner development.

They make scary reading. For example, extending the area of

Tipner West by reclaiming land from Portsmouth Harbour is against the Environment Agency’s National Encroachment Policy for Tidal Rivers and Estuaries – and of course the mudflats are protected by a Site of Special Scientific Interest because of their importance to wildlife. Jeremy is right that carbon stored in the mudflats would be released if they were disturbed.

The Ministry of Defence say they have an explosives store on Horsea Island. The new access road to the development would be within the Vulnerable Building Distance of this explosive store, so ‘buildings that contain large areas of glass, tall structures (in excess of three storeys) and buildings of light weight construction are of particular concern to the MOD.’

Historic England way that the development of Tipner East and West and Horsea Island ‘could, potentially, have an impact upon a number of designated heritage assets and their settings in the area around the site… These included Scheduled Monuments, Grade 1, Grade II* and Grade II Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas.’ They strongly recommend that the Conservation Officer at Portsmouth City Council is involved - but the city hasn’t had a Conservation Officer for more than a year… These facts – and the 13,000 people who have signed the petition against this development at Tipner – are all good reasons for the council to pause to listen to these voices, and to scale down their proposals by taking on board other, more sustainable proposals for Tipner West. Celia Clark Florence Road, Southsea