Our family has been resident in Fishbourne for the last ten years and we have been very happy here.

I feel compelled to write about the propaganda that has been disseminated around the village concerning proposed housing development.

Last week I received another 'special issue' of the Fishbourne Village Voice, which, like the previous issue, is dedicated to advising residents about how and why they should object to new housing being built in the village.

I understand the instinctive nimbyism of people who have moved into semi-rural villages expecting them to remain unchanged, but this surely must be acknowledged to be a privileged viewpoint.

Today the newspapers report on the recommendations of a year long housing inquiry, suggesting that the country needs 3 million new homes in the next 20 years. An entire generation of young people in their twenties and thirties face the possibility of life-long house renting. Working households are being forced into bed and breakfast accommodation, and the number of homeless people is rising. Last week CDC regretted the need to send families out of area as there was no suitable accommodation within the CDC area.

I accept that in an ideal world all infrastructure should be in place before houses are built. However, whilst children live in insanitary and unsuitable B&B or private rentals, with huge detriment to their health and education, I do not believe that we can afford this luxury. Likewise, in-fill development is obviously sensible, but looking at the in-fill development in the village along Main Road in the last few years, this has not been in the affordable housing category. Block developments of the type proposed for Bethwines allows for more mixed housing.

The Village Voice raised concerns about access to medical care. Doctors' surgeries are closing their lists because of lack of GPs, not because of an influx of patients. This is a national problem that is not going to be solved overnight for many reasons. Similarly the shortage of teachers - both groups of professionals are leaving their professions due to high stress levels, and recruitment is difficult (not least because of the difficulty in finding affordable housing).

The lack of a shop has been mentioned many times since we have lived here, and it seems that the easy access to Tesco either by foot, or by bus, means that a village shop is unlikely to be viable.

The anxieties about roads, drainage etc would, I presume, be addressed during the construction process, and I do not view these as reasons to delay building.

Sadly, although the Q&A section in the Village Voice strongly refutes nimbyism, it is not my understanding that historic data can be applied to the current situation. Fishbourne is not an isolated rural village tucked up in the South Downs; it is already semi-rural, sitting in very close proximity to Chichester, such that people can easily walk or cycle to work in the city. No proposals for housing development are going to be free from all problems, but I believe that the current proposals for 250 houses in Fishbourne are reasonable.

I would like my strong support for the proposals to build 250 more homes in Fishbourne to be registered.