AS a person very active in sport in Harlow, I am constantly dismayed at the negative attitude to all development in this town.

It would appear that trying to sell off a piece of land that only recently looked like a mud-bath has attracted the attention of all sorts of heritage and conservation freaks.

What they are trying to preserve is what would have been the proposed extension to Burnt Mill Industrial Estate had the development corporation sold the land to the rugby club.

At best Ram Gorse is a sparsely grassed plot of land with three overused rugby pitches and an old decaying clubhouse (the green part is a sustainable and commonly virulent weed).

The vista for most of the year is hardly attractive and not one you would want to cross the road for, unless of course you wished to take your dog to the toilet, dump your car or drain your engine oil.

There is of course the rugby, but this only appeals to the 250 Harlow boys and girls who frequent Ram Gorse every week.

It really would be nice to stay at Ram Gorse, the home of the Harlow Rams for 45 years, but sadly it is not to be.

The grounds are worn out, the clubhouse is decaying, the roof leaks like a sieve, the drains are collapsing and the toilets are beyond saving.

The long-term prognosis for rugby at Ram Gorse is non-existent. The rebuilding of the clubhouse would require a substantial mortgage that the business could not sustain, so the banks would simply not lend to us.

In the broader aspect, what is happening at Harlow Rugby Club is repeated across the town in many sports.

Football the once proud boast of Harlow was that it had the largest soccer league in Europe. This is no longer the case, pitches lack investment.

Harlow Town FC only recently the manager decried the poor facilities at the Sportcentre. He must look at Stevenage Borough and wonder at the disparity between the two 'new' towns.

Hockey Harlow Hockey Club hold their fixtures in Bishop's Stortford because of the lack of a suitable surface in Harlow.

Athletics Harlow Athletic Club hold their fixtures in Ware because of the perilous state of the track at the Sportcentre.

Swimming the long-term financial position of the Harlow Pool is questionable. Where would that put Harlow Penguins, one of the real assets for healthy living in this town?

Cycling whatever happend to the Harlow Cycling Stadium?

Skiing it must be a sad day for anyone who learned to ski at Harlow Ski Slope to see that slope gradually disappear. If anything is more indicative of the decline of sport in this town it is the complete decimation of a facility.

Cricket as a Yorkshireman, I cannot understand a town that has not got one single school playing the game properly, but then we are different up there as we always do things properly.

If we do not pull our fingers out soon, the only sports available in Harlow will be hoop-la and dog walking.

At that point we will all have to become introverted Thatcherite nimbys with no desire to support the society that we live in.

No point in blaming 'the council'. They are not some inanimate object, they represent us, they reflect our views, they are us.

If we allow sport to die in this town it will be because we have allowed it to happen. People of Harlow, it is up to you.

ALAN WEBB,

honorary treasurer,

Harlow Rugby Football Club,

Ram Gorse,

Harlow