SIR — We appreciate that West Somerset councillors have expressed sympathy for Stogursey parish and in particular for the incumbent hamlet of Shurton – we are genuinely suffering the brunt of the disruption caused by the construction of Hinkley Point C.

In the hamlet of Shurton, approximately 75 per cent of the 17 houses that are most affected by the work have been sold or are likely to be sold in the near future, clearly showing the disruption to our community.

Although the district council express sympathy, it should be remembered that it was the council who gave permission for EDF to build.

We understand and are delighted that the county of Somerset will benefit considerably from the build. We know that the UK needs electrical power. We would agree that providing for the greater good probably resulted in the right decision.

Nevertheless the council capitulated to EDF and agreed to almost everything that the local hamlets had said they did not want.

Crying over spilt milk is a waste of time and effort. What can be done is to continue to treat this parish and the hamlets as a special case. The basis of this letter is to identify how this can be done.

lWe did not want a hostel. Five hundred single men in this small community could cause chaos.

Probably too late to stop it but a major monitoring effort of disruption must be made with support readily available to deal with problems.

l We did not want 24/7 working. There will be no peace. In particular any night work must be planned and closely monitored to prevent noise and other disruptions to a peaceful night.

l We wanted better control of speeding traffic. We find that there is little to no priority given to the parish when we ask for help. We ask that the necessary powers give greater priority to this parish.

l There is apparently a substantial amount of finance available for parish projects. However, the bureaucracy that we meet when trying to benefit from this finance prevents progress.

Projects are not for personal benefit but to prepare the parish to be ready to cope with an influx of people from the Hinkley C build. We must be able to cut through the bureaucracy and be treated as a special case.

l People from this parish should be given every opportunity to apply for work at Hinkley C if they wish to do so. Special arrangements should be made to facilitate this.

Sympathy is appreciated but help is better. You express sympathy - help us by raising our priority levels to enable us to get things done.

Peter Farmery,

Shurton.