THE saga of the city council’s supposed public consultation over the Covered Market has taken a turn for the worse. Following your article (November 20) publicising the consultation and reporting the concerns of Cllr Campbell, also my letter suggesting how readers can access the report and the questionnaire about the Market’s future, I found my problems were only starting.

Having read the report online, I tried to access the questionnaire, but was required to register first. This was ‘to confirm that the person registering owns the email address given’. Why? And how are people without an email address supposed to comment?

To register, I had to give a lot of personal data, then get out, and wait for the council to email me back. This took some time, and only then could I start answering the questionnaire.

At the end, when commenting on the report, having taken the time to draft it and type it, it was rejected because it was in excess of 1,000 characters.

I sent in the questionnaire without my comments, which I emailed separately with a request that they are attached to it. So far I have heard nothing.

Why is the council making it so difficult for the public to comment on the Market and respond to the report? Remember, this is the planning authority that allowed the Castle Mill flats to be built with hardly any consultation and is allowing the Blavatnik School of Government to be built against overwhelming local opposition.

If the council is serious about wanting people’s views, it will extend the consultation period beyond November 29.

NIGEL HISCOCK, Great Clarendon Street, Oxford