Dear Editor,

With reference to the letter included in the Ross Gazette on January 3rd, regarding ‘The future of Herefordshire.’

Herefordshire is indeed a beautiful county and I have some sympathy with the sentiments expressed by Tina Crooks about the impact of plastic polytunnels on the landscape. However, Herefordshire’s economy has long been linked with fruit growing and agriculture, and such methods undoubtedly increase productivity. This is important when it comes to food production, especially when it is a healthy product at a time when so much food being produced is not.

The work associated with fruit growing and harvesting is hard and it has always been my understanding that the dependency upon an (typically) Eastern European workforce has largely been because it is very difficult to find local people to take on this work.

The description of ‘240 itinerant workers’ taking advantage of ‘any public service’ is disparaging. If they work hard and (as I assume) pay taxes, they are welcome to make use of our schools, health services, libraries etc.

To suggest that migrant workers are to blame for the pressure on these valued public services is a failure to see where the problems really stem from.

David Haworth

Ross-on-Wye