Anyone who chooses to live in a gated community is sending the rest of us a signal that they do not belong to the general society.

Fair enough. If that's what they want, let them do it. But let them be stripped of their British citizenship as the price of it. And don't let them think they can claim any rights relative to the rest of us.

Michael Petek, Brighton, UK

Maybe Phil Spencer has a point on the long term effect on society of gated communities and the message they send out.
Should we start with the removal of the ones at Downing Street ?
Graham Leddington
Ungated in Shropshire

Graham Leddington, Wellington, Shropshire

I agree with Phil Spencer gated communities are divisive. I think a gated garden such as the ones in the London squares is just about acceptable. However I have seen gated gardens on council estates, her the residents do not have akey but have to wait for them to be opened by a warden at set times.

Personally I like the idea of friends being able to drop in on me, all that spontinaity goes if you have a gaurded gate.

June Buckely

june buckley, alsager, stoko-on-trent, england

I agree with Phil Spencer gated communities are divisive. I think a gated garden such as the ones in the London squares is just about acceptable. However I have seen gated gardens on council estates, her the residents do not have akey but have to wait for them to be opened by a warden at set times.

Personally I like the idea of friends being able to drop in on me, all that spontinaity goes if you have a gaurded gate.

June Buckely

june buckley, alsager, england

"The bottom line is that [Oxbridge Colleges] separate bright from thick."

Except for the tourists they let in by day and the alumni they keep out by night. On which side of the college walls do they keep the thick?

Richard, London, UK

Umm, Phil, aren't the residents of the Bow Quarter development also 'locals'?... Or are you advocating some bizarre sort of reverse discrimination? 'You're only a local if you drop litter, and spray graffiti'? Surely not?

I think he's saying that you're only 'local' if you're property is freely available for random graffiti artists or if you spend half an hour each Saturday picking the rubbish dropped by passing litter louts out of your front garden.

Julian, Twickenham, UK

Being a resident of a gated estate of ten new houses in Surrey, I find any suggestion I have made for the gates to be open during the day is rejected by my neighbours. Modern living results in numerous vehicles for all sorts of services and so the gates open and close countless times during the day. In my view, the problem is created when Local Council’s require the developer of an estate, usually on ’backland’ to fund and construct the vehicular access as part of planning permission. Once constructed, the road is required to be maintained by the new occupiers The estate is then marketed as ‘private’ and an application for gates and railings usually follows. In my view all that is needed is for government to require more new access roads to be public adopted, but that will require footpaths within new developments to meet local standards. Or alternatively a local byelaw requiring gates to be open during the day.

jim, Weybridge,

sounds like an expensive way to to be feel like you are in prison!

sa, yorkshireuk, uk

I think the point has been missed, Britain has become like South Africa and people who can afford it live behind high walls gates and soon to come to Britain I am sure razor wire AND electric fencing.

Derek, Johannesburg,

Oooh! I like the sound of excluding the vile feral scum that live round the corner from me... Please, Greenwich Council, can I have a nice gated community along with my civilised neighbours? No, of course not; the council wants us to live in a foul multicultural, chav-scum dominated, spray-painted and chicken-bone littered 'mixed community'. Damn... I know, I'll move to Bow Quarter!

philip, watford,

We have this all over south africa and you are quite right, it is due to the total failure of the government of the day to sort out the terrible crime levels and constant lack of service delivery. Basically you have to look after yourself but at what personal cost to oneself and society as a whole!

Andrew, Johannesburg,

I dont get the problem.
These communities are the perfect example of what you seem to want, everyone knows everyone, the streets are clean, neighbourly disputes dont exist ect.

If anything they should be expanded, not attacked.

Housing assaciation are the ultimate freedom.
Undesirables are ejected.
If your next door neighbours children are loitering, the association orders the parents to deal with them, or face eviction.
If my next door neighbours children deceide to set my car alight, I can only hope the parents dont kill me.

The long term effect? the criminal elements will be driven off.

Dominic, Manchester, UK

Gates are a symptom, not the cause. The cause is the increasingly anti-social behaviour we see on the streets. I lived for 4 years in a converted terrace in a relatively nice area of London. During those 4 years I had my car broken into twice and dinged numerous times, the flat broken into twice (once while I was home), my scooter was broken into, our dustbin stolen or moved regularly, litter all over the street, and I was frequently woken up by drunken singing, arguing or kids/drunks/potential burglars ringing the doorbell.

18 months ago I moved to a modern mews house nearby. Nothing too grand, just 3 houses set round a courtyard that is separated from the street by a couple of electric gates. I don't get disturbed, I can park safe in the knowledge that my windows and paintwork will be intact the next morning, and so far (touch wood) nobody has tried to break in.

Your attention would be better focused on ways to control the behaviour that is driving people to put up gates.

Simon, London,

I disagree completely with your article Phil. I live in a gated community in North London - we are not rich (i am a secretary, my husband a social worker). In our gated community there are about a dozen houses and some flats. Most of those living there have families. We all know eachother, and whilst are not particularly close, we all get on well, say hi, take deliveries for eachother, have a chat when we see eachother, and crucially - all the kids play together out the front. When it was raining on Saturday my daughter and I just popped across to one of the houses to see if the kids wanted to come over to ours and play ..... I don't think there are many North London streets where this sort of thing happens!

Elizabeth, London,

What has race got to do with people on higher incomes moving out of city centres? Don't population movement figures reflect the ethnic make-up of people on higher incomes?
Sadly I understand that much of the racial tension in places such as Barking etc comes from jealousy when the locals see wealthier non-whites moving out of the inner city and buying homes in their suburban area. Is the rise of the BNP down to "black-flight"?

I think you'll also find that indigenous anglo-saxons are being priced-out of Chelsea by richer Russians and Arabs. Quick think of a race-based term for that!

Marc, hammersmith, London

These gated communities are a logical response to the ineffectives of our pathetic pc controlled police. In effect, security has been rightfully privatised. If your taxes cannot provide the security you need then you must supplement it privately. In my opinion, it's a global phenomena and they are here to stay, so we have to get used to it. It's only a step up from adding a burg;ar alarm connected to a private security firm.

oldasiahand, Guildford, UK

Thank you Richard!
As a resident of the Bow Quarter 'Gated community', I truly believe that many of the people who live there ,do consider themselves locals, and as such care about what happens 'outside' of the walls, and not just inside our little cocoon, which is what I feel is implied in the article.

There are, many of the people who live there work locally, and therefore impacting on the area, such as educators in local schools, colleges and universities, counsellors, doctor's, nurses, architect's and community workers, who use their skills in order to give back to our local area.

Yes, we do have security guards 24/7, a shop, a bar, a gym, secure parking and great open spaces, but we pay for it! On top of our Council Tax, which I am sure is evaluated in the same way as any other property in Bow, a considerable service charge is paid, which can add a couple of thousand pounds to yearly outgoings.

It's not cheap, but all residents contribute to it's running, and upkeep

Sam J, Bow,

The old wisecrack has become literal: If you have to ask, you can't afford it.

Michael, Pueblo, Colorado, US

Since when did Phil Spencer develop a social conscience? Maybe he's experiencing a dawning realisation of the effect on society that his years on TV promoting the idea that a house is an investment not a home have had.

The effect of an accelerating wealth transfer from the the young to the old through buy-to-let has led to a loss of hope amongst the young and a brain drain of the best as they move away from the UK for a better life. The happy boomers with vast disposable incomes from pensions that are unsustainable contrasts starkly with the young professionals struggling to pay the utility bills and council tax in their poorly maintained rented houses, with the ever-present threat of their home being sold from underneath them when the BTL parasite gets bored and decides to price local families out of the market somewhere prettier. A timely discovery of your social conscience indeed Mr Spencer.

Nat, Cambridge,

Who cares if a few people live in gated communities and the social effects.

Has Phil Garside ever stopped to think about the social effects of his and Kirstie's endless property ramping over the last 10 years?

How responsible does he feel for the "prices only ever go up" mentality that has caused 100,000's to overstretch themselves to get on the "property ladder"? These people are now at risk from reposesion due to his pressure selling on behalf of his estate agent chums.

Rob H, London,

I spent 5 years living in Manila, these gated communities are entitled sub-divisions but the similarity is identical to those listed in this article. The more wealthier ones employ shut-gun touting security guards with a entry registration. Houses are called ahead to ensure your arrival is expected. If society were not as dangerous or the police force more efficient then these gated communities would cease to exist. Ask our home secretary, she is frightened to walk the streets of London.

Julian Hutchings, shanghai, China

Phil, have you really thought about what you're saying? You sound like an interfering and levelling socialist; it's a small step from what you are saying here to full-on state-backed 'social engineering' with property tenure determined by the state, and nobody enjoying an absolute right to enjoy property as they wish. I take issue with your bald statement that mixed communities are somehow good; in my experience (in the socialist boroughs of south London) enforcing this 'mix' generally leads to the 'rotten apple' syndrome; the rest of the barrel never benefits from the presence of the 'less social' and the rot can easily spread. Still, I suppose one benefit of abolition of private rights over property would be the abolition of estate agents as well... [oops, Phil, there goes your job...]. No, Phil, property should be a free market, and in a free market (especially when government has failed to do anything except tax us), if people want gated communities, that is what they should get!

andrew mashkov, front-line south london,

Umm, Phil, aren't the residents of the Bow Quarter development also 'locals'? I presume they pay local property taxes, and sleep in their houses - so by most people's definition, they must also be locals, right...? Or are you advocating some bizarre sort of reverse discrimination? 'You're only a local if you drop litter, and spray graffiti'? Surely not?

richard fleet, St Albans,

I would move to a gated community tomorrow. Quiet simply I have a young family and drig dealers have moved into my road. If only they had a school attached....

If you want to avoid white flight, gated communities and other Americanisms that I (until recently) had a distate for, we need effective policing, better inner-city schools and less ethnic ghettos. That probably wont happen. Welcome to New America.

Johno, London,

Gated access is a disease that spreads quickly... people fear for being the "soft target" so they feel compelled to gate up too the end result is a faceless, paranoid community. This is a dramatic change from the days of friendly neighborhoods with the local bobby on the beat.
It has been proven how we need human interaction at many levels to maintain some level of happiness. The strict planning system should protect us from this downward spiral of gated segregation?
Should we look to extremes to get a perspective on this? Would these same gated people suggest rebuilding the Berlin Wall?

Richard, Thames Ditton, Surrey

The most basic function of the government is to protect its citizens from the violent mob. I do not think anyone sensible can deny that the current government has almost entirely abandoned this responsibility. The only people to have proper security from hooligans in Britain today are (i) those that can afford to pay for it themselves, and (ii) our political masters and apparatchiks (who are almost always mysteriously exempt from the utopian experiments that they are so keen on carrying out on their underlings).

Patrick, London, U.K.

Thank God we have found something to keep premiership footballers locked away from our wives and children.

sue, Winchester, UK

The primary duty of any government is to ensure the safety of the people whom it governs. When it fails in this duty people will do what they can to protect themselves. Moaning about the possible social problems that may result misses the point.
The British government has failed in its duty and the citizens are starting to react in a totally logical way.

Mike Davidson, Singapore, Singapore

Oxford and Cambridge colleges are enclosed areas, encircled by stone walls and iron gates. All students must show their ID as they enter and their visitors must be signed in by the security guards. Security is 24/7; CCTV is increasingly common.

Inside these gated Oxbridge colleges, the paths are spotless and the landscaping is lush. The environment is peaceful, litter-free, graffiti-free, and safe. There are dining halls, sports rooms, libraries, bars. With such facilities, residents need never mix with the locals.

What happens if there is a robbery or an assault? Sometimes the police go in; other times it is handled as an internal college matter, with the perpetrator rusticated or sent down.

Such enclaves are designed specifically to exclude people whose intellect doesn't fit with the aspirations of the academics or the students they target. The bottom line is that they separate bright from thick. Isn't it time we stopped to think about the long-term effect on society? (Err, no.)

Andrew, Oxford, UK