Hampstead Heath ‘The City of London Corporation funds many things’

• HOW does Andre Lopez-Turner think the upkeep of the facilities at Parliament Hill is funded if not by the users? (Why must we pay the fat cats of the City when we exercise on the Heath? August 8).

Would they go to a swimming pool and not expect to pay? The City of London Corporation funds many things for the people of Greater London without any contribution from most of them.

This includes five bridges over the Thames, educational bursaries for young people from low-income homes (from the surplus in the bridge fund), and the upkeep of open spaces such as Hampstead Heath.

A significant number of the city’s 25,000 residents live in social housing. Would it be right for them to fund, via their council tax, free exercise facilities for those living in a more affluent area like Hampstead?

NIALL GARVIE
Lennard Road
Bromley