I am responding to E J Bailey's letter "Others suffer to give a few their view" in last night's (EA, November 22) issue.

I live in Okus myself, and I cannot see the Front Garden from my house. Nor, I know, can Terry King. Mr Bailey totally misses the point.

Firstly, it is a known health hazard to live on low-lying boggy ground. This is not "nimby-ism" it is a fact. Infants and the elderly are four times more likely to develop serious respiratory problems in such an environment. Premature death is a real threat and the statistics are available should Mr Bailey require them.

This is not to mention the pollution from the M4. Would he like his children to live so close to one of the country's busiest traffic routes?

Secondly, the fact that the flood waters on the Front Garden subsided after five days will be very reassuring to those planning to live there, I'm sure. Only five days under water terrific. How fortunate for Mr Bailey that the River Cole did not flood. If it had, as so many waterways did, he would not be so enthusiastic about building on the flood plains.

Thirdly, Mr Bailey clearly does not take the traffic congestion issue seriously. He has not witnessed the already chaotic conditions during commuter hours on Bath Road, Kingshill, and Wootton Bassett Road. Let's add a few hundred more commuters, and see if this improves the situation. The new residents will have to use their cars, as there are no jobs and no shops immediately on their doorsteps.

Let's get one thing perfectly straight. The only reason planning permission will be granted for the development on the Front Garden is the money involved. It flies in the face of all the latest clinical, environmental and Governmental advice. But of course, Swindon Council knows better.

Call me a nimby, by all means, but only if you have researched the facts.

SUSAN THORNTON

Sarsen Close

Okus

Swindon