George Monbiot makes a compelling case for land reform to address the inequities of the common agricultural policy (CAP) and other scandals where land is privately owned to the detriment of the public good, such as the enormous cost of land restricting the building of affordable housing (There’s one good thing about Brexit. Let’s seize it, 10 October).

He says he hasn’t got all the answers. A good start would be a transparent register of all land ownership, including land owned by overseas trusts. The UK is one of the few countries lacking such a register, a task imposed by the 1925 Law of Property Act but never properly implemented. This would provide the means to introduce an effective system of land taxation.

Conservative governments have consistently opposed the introduction of a land value tax, in defence of the principle of private property rights and owner-occupation. The time is now right for any future government to revisit the question of land reform and recoup for the community the obscene increases in the value of land when private owners get planning permission to build.

Michael Tichelar

Author, The Failure of Land Reform in Twentieth Century England: The Triumph of Private Property

• As George Monbiot writes, the CAP drives environmental destruction and regressively rewards farmland owners – from our taxes – just for owning land. Even though the public have paid enough money through taxes to have bought all British farmland, entrant farmers are excluded from the land and farms are mostly beyond the democratic control of the planning system. So paying farmers for protecting wildlife, soil health, water quality and the landscape, rather than ownership, is a good government proposal.

We can also act to transform farmland from a speculative bonanza into a shared commons, stewarded by community farm trusts and county farm estates, providing affordable access for farmers and communities that are seeking local food sovereignty. Protecting farmland by planning designation, ending the abuse of farm inheritance tax exemptions, abolishing the inheritance tax break on woodlands, allowing tax breaks for farmland gifts to public charitable farm trusts and incentives for the community right to buy farmland to build common wealth would be a good start.

Martin Large

Founder, Biodynamic Farmland Trust

• George Monbiot rightly argues that there is much to be welcomed in the new UK agriculture bill. However, many of us are concerned that the policies announced to date are focused almost entirely on agri-environmental incentives but not on boosting domestic food production. We are already importing around 40% of the food we eat in the UK, and this is likely to rise under Brexit and proposed bilateral free-trade deals.

Dr Alan Bullion

Tunbridge Wells, Kent

• George Monbiot hits the nail on the head when he says “the government proposes to use public money as a substitute for regulation” in the agriculture bill.

Farmers and landowners have a legal duty to maintain paths on their land so that people can continue to access the countryside. But the bill in its current form lacks a regulatory baseline setting this out as one of the minimum standards expected of those receiving public funds. Those who go further and improve access in the public interest should be eligible for financial rewards. Improving access to the countryside and enabling more people to engage with nature can only benefit society’s attitudes towards environmental matters; we must take this vital opportunity to get it right.

Stephen Russell

Policy and advocacy officer, The Ramblers

• It would be helpful if George Monbiot continued to remind his readers that the UK repeatedly obstructed European commission efforts to reform the CAP in defence of our larger farms. In 2013, David Cameron vetoed proposals by the commission to cap the amount paid to large farms and redistribute money across Europe to environmental budgets. This veto was supported by some UK nature conservation charities because of their substantial incomes from the CAP.

Peter Hack

Presteigne, Powys

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