BY chance, I happen to have seen your excellent article on the Halstead bypass (Gazette, May 12) and two things strike me at once. 

For local walkers the excellent footpath walk, probably the best near the town, running between Pearman’s Hill and Wash Farm on the north side of the town with splendid views over the Colne Valley would be blighted, and elsewhere what is known to be a substantial Roman villa site is crossed.

The latter has already had some work done on it in the last century but this project would require there to be large scale evaluation work over several fields and possibly full excavation before construction could proceed.

It might even then turn out to be needing preservation, negating the proposed alignment.

It does strike one as unfortunate that in the supposed aim of progress the town should lose forever two of its very interesting features, surely there has to be a better solution than just surrendering our heritage to the lorry?

Richard Vigouroux-Henday of Newhouse Road, Earls Colne