SIR - So, ‘ransom strips’ have prevented, for the past decade or more, the Alexandria Business Estate, and Fords in particular, from increasing employment capacity on that site.

Let’s have some transparency then; exactly who are the individuals and/or businesses who are the “flies in the ointment”, and where are they? The result of their intransigence, and, presumably, planned procrastination in awaiting an organisation with enough capital to “pay the right price”, could be the desecration of 12.5 acres of greenfields within the Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

From Sidbury to Sidford, one of the main gateways to Sidmouth and the Jurassic Coast will feature a trading estate for B1, B2, B8 industries (just about anything and everything you can think of), ancillary retail, class D public assembly (another catch all), and professional, education and research services.

So, come on East Devon District Council, force the issue and put a compulsory purchase order on the ransom strips.

As the chairman of the development management committee of EDDC indicated recently, “Environmental protection must be the golden thread which runs through any planning proposals”.

The Sid Valley is our ‘golden thread’.

J S McGregor

Sid Vale Close, Sidford