I WELCOME the news that the county council is to fund the extension of bus route five from west Popley to the hospital on the grounds that it is a "socially necessary" service.

I pursued this matter in some detail with Stagecoach.

Apparently, the combined revenue from both Oakridge and west Popley had been less than 20 per cent of the cost of providing route five.

But the county has agreed funding only until its next major review of supported services (July 2005).

Some hard lobbying is needed to ensure it survives.

THE National Housing Federation has produced some sobering statistics for the South East.

House prices increased by 75 per cent between 1999 and 2003, while incomes grew by just 32 per cent.

Not surprisingly, waiting lists for "affordable" rented homes have lengthened enormously - by over 13 per cent last year alone. Throughout the region nearly 150,000 households are now waiting.

It is abundantly clear that our affordable housing programme is not remotely keeping up with demand.

I AM worried about plans to charge more for parking and to cut the number of spaces in central Basingstoke.

It is lunacy to throw away an advantage which we have over other towns.

As Cllr Phil Heath argues: "Most towns in the UK would love our level of congestion, ease of access and transport links" (The Gazette, October 15).

Spokesmen for local commerce and industry condemn the plans. Church leaders see them as "a tax on worship". Besides, with the population of Basingstoke expected to grow by 40,000 by 2016, we will need more - not less - parking space.