This revelation of the nature and scale of the Fitzroy Farm development (Anger at bonkers plan, H&H April 24) is a wake-up call for all those who love and value Hampstead Heath and its immediate environs. This development is disproportionate, inappropr

This revelation of the nature and scale of the Fitzroy Farm development (Anger at 'bonkers' plan, H&H April 24) is a wake-up call for all those who love and value Hampstead Heath and its immediate environs.

This development is disproportionate, inappropriate, unreasonable, unnecessary and totally self interested. It also carries a contagion; if given final approval by Camden Council, it will almost certainly lead to a plague of other such disruptive, self seeking building site conditions lasting many long, disagreeable years.

It is the antithesis of everything Hampstead Heath stands for. It is about making money whilst Hampstead Heath, saved from developers by public subscription under the 1871 Hamspstead Heath Act, stands for the very opposite, putting nature and rural landscape above money.

It is an unlooked-for irony that the attractions of an unspoilt, unbuilt upon Heath should be the attraction for a massive building development, lasting an estimated two and half years, at its very edge.

The site is literally a couple of hundred feet away from the Kenwood swimming pond, which in turn is part of a fragile and scarce water-linked ecosystem that is threatened by such major works close to its banks. It could lead to contamination that would render them unsafe for swimming and wild life. It is a danger too great for contemplation.

Robert Sutherland Smith

Chairman, United Swimmers Association of Hampstead Heath