I FEAR Stewart Lambert may be right (Gazette, Farming Diary, July 25).

At the last Aynam Road presentation meeting, before planners approved the scheme, the Environment Agency representative stated a clear and unequivocal "yes" when I asked him face-to-face if our bridges were in danger should phase one go ahead without the other two phases.

When you see how close to the top of the arches of Nether Bridge the water can get in a flood situation, how can adding walls that allow the fastest flowing river in the UK to run higher and wider be the right choice for Kendal?

The EA officer expressed that, in an ideal world, catchment and controlled release of phase three would be first but the funding pot wouldn't allow it. There's also no guarantee the next two phases will happen. I will be keeping my fingers crossed for our heritage assets (and the avoidance of traffic chaos) should a flood come after phase one.

Sue Kennedy

Staveley