LIVING here, you have the impression of Malvern as a place where more than the average number of people are aware of ecological issues, so it was surprising to see the town in the news this week facing the charge of not being green.

A report by the World Wildlife Fund concluded that affluent Malvern is using up more natural resources per head than anyone else in the West Midlands.

It's hard to know how much value to place on a report which is based simply on an assessment of lifestyle statistics. You could argue that it shows what people do, rather than what they say.

In the end these reports are designed to get people talking and thinking, in which case it has achieved its purpose.

Clearly if we all lived like paupers, never spent any money, never went on holiday and grew our own food, we would be doing less damage to the planet, but that is hardly realistic.

But we do all need to think about compromises we can make, otherwise we will continue to take more than our fair share of Earth's limited resources.

IT would be churlish to criticise an MP for having the courage to stick his head above the parapet when most of the time you can't get them to take a lead on anything controversial. Particularly brave of Leominster MP Bill Wiggin, as Conservative spokesman on agriculture, to take a pop at fruit growers.

While we agree that polytunnels are ugly and those close to houses ought to be subject to some control, they are a necessary evil if our fruit growers are to compete on a world market.

We doubt putting the decision in the hands of elected councillors would is best way to achieve the right balance.