Sir: I read Petronella Wyatt's article on Italy with interest.
Another distressing thing about Italy is that it is no longer a beautiful country. Its once beautiful land- scape has largely been destroyed by indus- trial and commercial development. Almost every vantage point is topped by a commu- nications tower, or several. Factories, power-lines, road systems and satellite towns are ubiquitous and dominating. Italy has become a desert of brutal ugliness in which are now only oases of great beauty from earlier times. In the 30 years I have been making frequent visits, the change has been dramatic.
We should not be complacent. In the beautiful landscape in which I live, plan- ning permission has just been given for 11 new communications towers, Twyford Down (which surely could have been tunnelled) has been destroyed and Newbury water meadows are shortly to be desecrated, all in the name of progress. Anyone wanting to know what lies in store for England should make a journey around Italy.
D.B. Robb
Durley Gate, Savemake, Wiltshire
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