Sir.-Basingstoke's Local Plan Inquiry started last week, and, in a few months' time, the inspectors will issue their report.

Basingstoke and Deane is a great place to live. The challenge is to sustain our economic success and to ensure that any future growth in our borough is properly planned.

The inspectors will review all the facts and then make their views known about both the council's Draft Local Plan and opponents' Alternative Plan.

Recently there have been many scare stories about housing numbers. Central Government and Hampshire County Council set the housing requirement for the borough. Let's concentrate on the facts, not the hearsay.

Between now and 2011, Basingstoke and Deane must allow about 6,000 new houses to be built. The council proposes, in the Draft Local Plan, a further 4,400 houses from 2011 to 2016. That is a total of 10,400 houses in the next 12 years.

Higher figures quoted in some letters to The Gazette are speculation and scaremongering.

Economic success can be a fragile thing. We already know that some businesses and services are struggling to get staff, and police officers commuting from Southampton are often tempted to jobs elsewhere.

The problems of affordable housing have spread beyond those on low incomes. The average house price is now five times the average household income.

We can't afford to let such problems get any worse.

The South East of England Regional Assembly will be consulting on options for housing growth up to 2026. However, Liberal Democrats have stressed that work on major infrastructure improvements must be on the agenda now.

We want guarantees of investment in transport links, sewage treatment and water supply.

To quote the council's portfolio holder for forward planning, Alex Green: "No infrastructure, no growth".

The Government has said there will be some central funding to put infrastructure in place. However, we all know the poor record of Labour and Conservative government in delivering on their promises.

Basingstoke's Liberal Democrats are fully committed to ensuring that funding is forthcoming.

This would be easier if local councils were given back the powers that were taken away by the last Conservative government.

Our council's Draft Local Plan has been an excellent example of openness, honesty and community involvement. It protects our rural communities and clearly sets out sites for development.

The Conservative "alternative" is a recipe for a high-density town, cramming and dumping developments on villages without providing the necessary facilities.

We have a lot to be proud of as a borough. With the right leadership on this issue, we can blend the best of the old with the best of the new.

The Liberal Democrats will continue to provide this leadership.

-Jen Smith, Prospective parliamentary candidate, Basingstoke Liberal Democrats.