SIR – Congratulations to SADC. for finally completing the destruction of the attractive heart of the original London Colney village. As residents of Lowbell Lane for the past 42 years we have seen the development of the Riverside industrial estate where o

SIR - Congratulations to SADC. for finally completing the destruction of the attractive heart of the original London Colney village.

As residents of Lowbell Lane for the past 42 years we have seen the development of the Riverside industrial estate where once were green fields from the river Colne to Whitehorse Lane with a small Berk Chemicals site near St Peter's Church, release of Green Belt land surrounding the Watersplash Hotel (now known as The Colney Fox) for residential development, this after two public enquiries and permission granted on condition the swimming pool area remained for recreational purposes. Where has that gone? No prizes for guessing that much of that area is also now housing and recent plans submitted for even more flats to be errected.

The final nail in the coffin hammered in on Monday with the approval of conversion of Cemex House to a mosque in spite of the many objections of local residents.

I fully agree with the points raised by Martin Threadgold in his letter last week, the whole meeting a fiasco. Are we really meant to believe that the chairman, Cllr Harrison, is really that naive to believe that efforts to raise �600,000 to purchase the site plus additional costs to adapt and repair the neglected building would be made to accomodate just one more worshipper than at their present venue? If only 51 worshippers are expected, why puchase a property with the capacity to hold 300 in the hall?

It also seems that they failed to read the information given in the applications that attendence is restricted at present to the Bangladeshi community only as present services are held in Bengali. It is proposed to conduct services at Cemex House in English to enable all Muslims to attend, surely this means more worshippers are likely?

I find a system whereby, had the application been refused, an appeal could have been made by the applicants but a decision passed by one casting vote on an identical application (apart from permanent to temporary use) already refused in November last year, cannot be challenged grossly unfair. Finally, one wonders what Peter Trevelyan's letter to Cllr Brazier contained to cause him to withdraw from the meeting and why he only received it an hour before the meeting, also, how and who will monitor the situation over the next three years.

MARIAN TODD

Lowbell Lane, London Colney