SIR – I just wanted to briefly summarise a case of the power of the local press. You publish in the Herts Advertiser a letter of mine about the wood recycling facility in Appspond Lane and then notify me of a lady who read the letter and wishes to conta

SIR - I just wanted to briefly summarise a case of the power of the local press. You publish in the Herts Advertiser a letter of mine about the "wood recycling facility" in Appspond Lane and then notify me of a lady who read the letter and wishes to contact her.

As a result of this contact I get entry to the biomass community liaison panel of which the lady is already a member. I attend my first meeting and am amazed to find that the biomass company Navitas are not prepared to improve the present wood recycling facility where chipped wood is stored in the open air.

I voice my concerns to Madeleine Burton who incorporates them into an article in the Herts Advertiser. Days later I receive a letter from Navitas confirming that after all they have decided to replace the current wood recycling facility with an improved one where the chipped wood waste will be taken directly into the building which houses the conveyor which supplies the boiler. There will thus be a reduction in the current open-air stockpiling of chipped wood.

I submit that without the exposure in the local press, Navitas would not have changed their policy.

So Mr Monbiot of the Guardian can think again about the death of the local press.

BARRIE MORT

Westfields, St Albans