UNSUSTAINABLE LIFESTYLES

In “The beast with multiple heads” (March 18), Rebecca Macfie provides an excellent post-mortem of the catastrophic fires on Christchurch’s Port

Hills. Of special interest were Richard McNamara’s comments on the problems posed by lifestyle block developments in potential wildfire zones worldwide.

Because they are often not economic units, they tend to be under-grazed, resulting in long, dry grass through the fire season.

This hazard, plus the loss of food production resulting from the fragmentation of farmland, along with the need to drive to the nearest town to work and shop, suggests that lifestyle-block subdivision is not an environmentally sustainable land use. Chris Horne (Northland, Wellington)