ONE of the main reasons I chose to come back to Bury — and, particularly Ramsbottom — after many years working in London was because I believed people were kinder here, more generous and welcoming.

But Bury's response to the proposals in the Manchester Spatial Framework, in local press and on social media, has disproved that a myth.

Under the guise of protecting greenbelt land there appears to be only smug self-interest, which chooses to ignore the desperate need for homes in the region, as throughout the country.

There are thousands of acres of land all around Greater Manchester — whether you're in Bury, Oldham, Rochdale, Bolton, Stockport — you're never more than a short ride at most from some great countryside.

They'd have to build non-stop every year for at least the next 100 years to make any real impact on the greenbelt here.

I've already asked some of the Ramsbottom objectors on social media whereabouts they live, and no one has answered.

But the odds are that more than a few live on an estate built in the 30s, 50s, 70s, 80s, 90s. Did residents object then? Probably. Many say they moved here for the countryside, but see nothing wrong with trying to deny that opportunity to others.

Many rightly highlight lack of infrastructure to support any development, and this is where real pressure should be brought, into improving service rather than opposing homes.

Public transport, in particular, is atrocious throughout Greater Manchester and so poor in parts of Bury as to be virtually non-existent, forcing people to have cars, and those who can't afford them to endure crawling bus journeys on badly congested roads.

We can only hope that any new development brings in people who appreciate the chance to have a home here and repay it with a warmth and neighbourliness apparently lacking in Bury at present.

E M Shelmerdine

Ramsbottom