GIVEN the inexorable rise in population numbers, and aspiration for a lifestyle comparable to that experienced in the West, coupled with the present prospect of noticeably diminishing oil resources within the next 30 to 50 years, is anyone in Government attending to this subject?

It would appear not, with the present plans for high speed trains now put forward. It is a basic fact to the world of physics that to make any vehicle go fast will take more energy than it does to move at a more moderate speed. With energy sources of all types becoming limited in the lifetimes of generations of people already alive, with consequence for the cost of energy, why is this aspect not receiving evident attention from Government?

Having designated our area an ‘Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty’, why discredit it with plans for a relatively short term future, with consequences arising from the above realities severely limiting the claims now made for a high speed train service?

Grant Thomson, Winslow Field, Great Missenden.