Madam, - Mr Hugh Elliot, managing director of ELM architects, is reported as saying "local councillors are not planners and architects, they're only looking after their own vested interests" ("Architects back high-density developments", The Irish Times, July 19th).
He goes on to say that the "common good always seems to be lost in favour of keeping small-scale interests happy".
He complains that planners are subject to the approval of elected representatives. I can hear many people quietly say: "Thank God for that".
Kieran Rose, Senior planner with Dublin City Council, is also quoted as saying that "high-density development would benefit people living in the city". Democratically elected councillors are very often the only recourse of the "small-scale interest" in this context, and they sometimes listen to what their electorate expresses as the "common good".
The contention seems to be that living in a confined space, with no garden, little privacy, looking out at more high-rise buildings (very often directly into the windows of one's neighbour) is "beneficial". High-density equals increased pollution and a decrease in the open space which everyone knows is life-enhancing - or do they?
People live in apartments very often because they cannot afford to live in houses, not because it is life-enhancing or beneficial to do so. - Yours, etc,
GRAINNE DEMPSEY, Spencer Villas, Glenageary, Co Dublin.