Ribbon development and loss of green belt in and around Halesowen has been a scourge imposed on us for many years. Our precious countryside is not infinite, once it's gone it's gone. Residents in and around Halesowen are understandably anxious about the insistence of Councillors that we must consider losing yet more of the diminishing green spaces.

In my youth I lived in an area of Halesowen surrounded by fields, farms and allotments, gradually those fields, farms and allotments have disappeared under houses, roads, schools and industrial units. The green spaces we still have are finite and we need more trees not less. Humans use a total of 740kg of oxygen per year. Which is, very roughly, seven or eight trees' worth.

Why do we need more land for industries and businesses when we already have so many empty office blocks yet continue to invest in more buildings?

The council needs to be more inventive and less inclined to take the easier route to identifying green belt land for building. We need these open spaces, there are known health benefits of green open spaces and not only to humans.