I read with dismay your article 'Builders put up £50,000' in the Gazette of June 24.

The article informed us that Colborn Homes has agreed to pay Luckington Primary School £50,000 if planning permission is granted in Bell Fields. North Wiltshire councillors were apparently dissatisfied with £20,000 but were going to think about it now they had negotiated up the price.

I wonder if the report set the same alarm bells ringing in the minds of other readers as it did in mine. Surely planning decisions should be made on the merits or otherwise of the development under discussion, not on the size of the bribe.

My dictionary defines a bribe as "Money or other inducement offered to procure action in favour of the giver", so bribe it is.

Does this mean that I will have to tip the council £150 for permission to build my garden shed, or £2,000 to convert my loft? Can I get planning if I up the ante to £2,500? I can see no difference in principle between that and the council's actions on the Luckington development.

I know this has been going on for some time, but is it any wonder that our planning system is held in such ill repute by the citizens on whose behalf it is meant to operate?

R Broley

Burton Hill

Malmesbury