I am writing with indirect reference to your article Pipe Down in The Comet. The residents of Gosmore, especially the elusive Ms X, may like to know that Three Valleys Water have recently agreed to fill a large mill pond with water in the hamlet of Charlt

I am writing with indirect reference to your article Pipe Down in The Comet.

The residents of Gosmore, especially the elusive Ms X, may like to know that Three Valleys Water have recently agreed to fill a large mill pond with water in the hamlet of Charlton, a mere stone's throw away from Gosmore, where you have reported they are handing out letters for the misuse of water.

To compound the fact that they are going to use so much water by doing this, if Three Valleys Water extracted less water from Wellhead pumping station, this pond is likely to have water in it naturally anyway, as it is fed by natural springs at Wellhead and further into Charlton!

So instead of extracting water at a cost to you and me, then pumping it into the village pond half way along the river bed (which just happens to back onto a few of the villages houses) why don't they ease off the extraction and let the spring flow naturally along its course, filling the mill pond on its way to the river Hiz?

I have always wondered how the water companies have got away with taking so much water from this site, when it has allowed what was a beautiful watercourse alive with wildlife, including water voles and shrews, to become a dried up riverbed. I have always believed this to be a conservation area - does anyone know?

It is a great loss to the area, but filling with water what is now a man-made pool with a plastic liner and aquatic plants at the ready, will not resolve this problem. The residents of Charlton need to look at the bigger picture along with Three Valleys Water for allowing this to happen.

This is a whole other issue in itself but relevant when it comes to the issue of a water shortage, don't you think?

NAME AND ADDRESS WITHHELD