WITH reference to the report headed "Below the Belt" in the Free Press on April 22, the sale of plots of land in a field between Bledlow Ridge and Saunderton is part of an ongoing problem of speculative land sales that is of concern to the Chilterns Conservation Board.

As reported, the field lies within the Chilterns Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty which means that it is within a nationally-protected landscape.

Every government for the past 40 years has accepted that the Chilterns landscape is as important as that of National Parks such as the Lake District and the Yorkshire Dales and deserves the same protection.

People buying these plots in the hope of building a dream home in the country, or as an investment for the future, will be paying many times the going rate for what is, and should always remain, undeveloped land.

We are worried that selling house-sized plots of land raises unrealistic expectations amongst purchasers that they will be able to build homes.

As Wycombe District Council has already made clear, there is no likelihood that they will get planning permission for any sort of development.

I am afraid that anyone who has bought plots has wasted their money.

The beauty of the Chilterns landscape is due in large part to its patchwork of fields and hedges, managed by farmers for centuries. The suggestion by Land International that maintaining the field near Bledlow Ridge as mown grassland will keep it in "visually pristine condition" shows that they have no understanding of the contribution that actively-managed agricultural land makes to the character of this area.

The Conservation Board will be keeping a close eye on this site and any others where the same problem crops up.

Claire Forrest, Information Officer, Station Road, Chinnor