Dear Editor, In her feature on Worcester properties, Marsya Lennox is wrong to suggest that The Malverns are unchanging (Post, May 23).

I suggest she visits that parish as soon as possible - and then see just how many new properties have been built there in the past 30 years - especially on the side of the hills. She will be unpleasantly surprised.

She then ought to bin her rose-tinted specs and find out the real reasons for city living not growing as fast in Worcester as it is perceived to be expanding in Brum.

This has far more to do with the decision to put Worcester Parkway Railway Station on ice during the same period.

The new station was supposed to have been built where the GWR Worcester-Oxford-Paddington line crosses the Midland line between Birmingham New Street and Bristol. There would have been road links to the M5 at Junction 7 plus the regulation megastore to keep Tesco's happy.

The real issue with housing in the Worcester area is that Sir Humphrey has predictably seriously under-estimated the demand for village housing in both Hereford and Worcester.

Instead of trying to foist another Milton Keynes "pretend new town" on to the area, all villages with under 500 souls should be allowed to build (say) between five and 20 new homes over the next five years.

This would do far more to stabilise village life than any of the current proposals.

CHRIS YOUETT

Coventry

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This collection's rubbish

Dear Editor, I'm not sure if anyone else in Birmingham has had the same problems, but we have been dutifully putting out our green bags and it has been four weeks and they are still waiting to be collected.

I called up the recycling hotline run by the council and was told that the council is behind with collections.

This is the same council encouraging us to "go green". If you come down my street in Yardley this seems to be by not collecting all the green refuse bags as the street is littered by them!

It's very demotivating to turn into my street and to be confronted daily by all these bags.

I know they don't have any hygiene issues, but maybe rats and mice might find them nice places to nest in. I don't envy the binmen that have to collect them. It is very commendable that the council is running this campaign and running a week-long Climate Change festival, promoted as the first in the country.

However actions speak louder than words and if it cannot cope with the recycling collections then how are they planning to increase our recycling rates?

Birmingham Council is performing badly in the UK, among the bottom 20 councils in the UK in the recycling league tables.

How does it propose to improve the recycling rates when it can't manage the collections it already has?

Mary Horesh

Yardley

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Are you tough enough for Red Cross challenge?

Dear Editor, I am writing to let your readers know about a global adventure competition run in support of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.

We're looking for UK men and women with a spirit of adventure to enter the 2008-09 Land Rover G4 Challenge and help us raise vital funds for vulnerable people in crisis, both locally and overseas.

The Challenge is an exciting global adventure that mixes 4x4 driving with activities such as mountain biking, kayaking and climbing.

The programme begins with a series of selections and culminates in the successful two-strong British team (made up of the top male and female applicants) battling against teams from 17 other countries in the gruelling three-week long Challenge Finals in Asia.

The events take place in truly spectacular locations and the winning team will be given a Land Rover to donate to their country's National Red Cross or Red Crescent Society.

Money raised through The Challenge will enable us to activate projects that may otherwise not be possible.

To enter the Land Rover G4 Challenge visit landroverg4challenge.com.

Sir Nick Young

British Red Cross ..TEXT --------------

Lipreading helps to improve lives

Dear Editor, There are over eight million people living in the UK with a partial or total hearing impairment.

Hearing loss can cause devastating communication difficulties in every aspect of a person's life including family, friends and work.

Lipreading teachers can help hearing impaired people in many ways.

Through the classes I learnt new tactics for coping in difficult situations, information about useful organ-isations, information about environ-mental aids for the television and telephone and, of course, my lipreading improves.

We are looking for mature people who have a warm, caring and professional approach and are prepared to learn about the practical and psychological problems of hearing impaired people.

MARY ALLISON

Manchester Metropolitan, University