I refer to the letter from Allan Davies about the Ford site at Dunton (Letters, August 2).

To suggest the Labour Government of the day was responsible for, or even helped in the development of Dunton is untrue.

If you refer to the Basildon Master Plan, which was published in the Fifties, you will observe the Dunton site was located outside the boundary of the New Town and was owned by three farmers.

This area was suggested to me by a good friend, Mr A Hatt, who was clerk of the council at that time.

From investigations I carried out, I was advised the land I was interested in was classified as poor-quality agricultural land.

Thereafter, I instructed agents to negotiate with the farmers involved, on the strict understanding that the name of Ford was not to be disclosed. Once the price had been agreed, we exchanged conditional contracts.

B MABEY
(Ford property manager, 1951-1963)
Arlington Road
Southend