Sir – I was shocked to read that Richmond Council has ordered that the new AstroTurf pitch at St Mary’s Junior School should be ripped up (RTT, October 3).

Surely improving children’s sports facilities with a better pitch is in everyone’s interest?

If, as you report, the AstroTurf project was partly funded in good faith by the pupils and their parents in co-operation with the school, this is the kind of initiative that should be encouraged. Yet the whole enterprise has been torpedoed by the council.

I wrote to three Lib Dem councillors along these lines last Saturday and delivered the letters by hand, but have had no reply or acknowledgment.

I understand the council has ordered the demolition of the new pitch mainly because “proper” planning permission has not been given.

So any objections are dismissed with the comment that the decision “is regrettable but the fault lies with the school not the council”.

What a message that sends out – particularly to the children.

VIVIAN BURCHILL
Hampton