THE prospect of more affordable housing in Knutsford is welcome especially if, as one of your recent contributors to Opinion suggested, the units are not all the standard four bedroom configuration but of different sizes that will attract the young 'first home seekers' as much as the more elderly 'downsizers'.

Increased housing capacity alone however will not be enough to support our growing community and in this respect your recent article featuring the proposal from Bill Gore to build a medical centre could be an important addition to our access to health care that is both local and economical, hopefully with an increased complement of healthcare professionals to cater for our expanding population.

But what are the plans for education and transportation?

Our nursery and primary schools are already stretched so what provisions are there for increasing their capacity?

Do we let the builders walk away making relatively little contribution to the needs of the larger community they have helped create?

If developers can re-site a cricket club then surely it is not too much to ask them to contribute to a primary school?

And what of Knutsford's roads that are all too frequently blocked with the local car population augmented by the mass exodus from the M6 every time there is a tailback or major incident?

Is it not time now for a wider discussion that moves the focus from how and where we build houses to how we build and enhance our community?

Mark Jones Knutsford