Chris Klee, vice-chair, Kingsbridge Natural History Society, of Ebrington Street, Kingsbridge, writes: Thank you for Sam Acourt's article in last week's Gazette covering the waterskiing issue. There were also some letters from knowledgeable and respected people on your letters page. I and others have received support from your readers for our opposition to the proposal. The article contained quotes by James Heaven that gave a misleading view of the likely consequences of introducing waterskiing to the central section of the estuary. It is as though he is more concerned with spin than with facts and his Facebook comments certainly support this. He claims that waterskiing would only occupy 1 per cent of the total area of the Estuary. This is clearly nonsense. Moving boats need to allow each other room to manoeuvre – think of sailing dinghies tacking to and fro – and small craft need to keep well clear of severe wash. So the narrow corridor along which he has measured his 1 per cent is just the area you need to keep away from to avoid waterskiers flying over your head. As for wildlife, fast-moving boats, plus humans on skis, will disturb water birds over a distance of 1km. Plot this out on a chart and you will see that this adds up to over 20 per cent of the estuary. James also thinks his plan has taken protection of the environment into account. What he means is: we pretended we wanted to waterski in a narrow part of Frogmore Creek (where this would clearly be damaging), but later dropped this part of the plan so we could claim to be 'green'. A 'sacrificial lamb' springs to mind. Has he carried out, or heard of, an environmental-impact assessment, which is the proper, systematic method of assessing how a proposal will affect wildlife? I think not, so spin rather than substance. His proposal would cause wildlife to suffer and numbers of beautiful water birds to decline. Waterskiing is a fun sport and should continue in Starehole Bay. James's association can work to ensure good behaviour here by his members to improve safety at a location where the environmental impact is limited. For beginners, I would recommend the excellent facilities, with tuition, provided by South West Lakes Trust at Siblyback reservoir near Liskeard.