IN REPLY to David Armitage's letter regarding the quality of green belt land earmarked for the proposed "Hoylake Golf Resort," I feel there is some factual clarification to be made in reply to comments made.

Like Mr Armitage, I was also under the assumption that the land earmarked for development was as he describes, "scrubland... not even good enough for produce or farming," exactly what our council would have us believe.

Even the rumoured £275,000 "needs assessment report" the council commissioned from Capita Symonds in 2006 describes it as "low-quality farmland."

However, dig a little deeper for the facts and a different picture emerges and not one our council would welcome.

I was unaware that every piece of land in the UK has what is known as a "Soil Association" grade attached to it containing information about, among other things, its soil types and agricultural suitability.

After speaking to a very knowledgeable woman at Cranfield University, she provided me with Soil Association data about the specific site the council wants to develop.

Rather than poor farmland, it is made up of three Soil Association grades with varying descriptions from "moderate fertility levels" to "highly productive" with "productive grassland" and best suited for "cereals, roots, potatoes and vegetables" plus "grass production for dairying or beef".

Furthermore, I was told that the grading of soil "could even be as good as class one if better irrigation was introduced."

This is a far cry from the misinformation supplied by our council who condemned it as near useless.

N Lauro by email