Sir – I was horrified to read in last week’s The Oxford Times that what I thought to be a fantasy proposal, ie the so-called Western Drainage Channel, has metamorphosed into a distinct possibility.

This, a full-scale river, will lead to the complete eradication of the character of the city’s western fringe.

I see its construction as a continuous chain of destruction thus:

1: The attractive patch of greenery on the north side of the Botley Road flanking Seacourt car park will be destroyed

2: The intimate character of the Hinksey Stream will be erased for ever

3: The Oxford Preservation Trust’s land at Hinksey will be carved up.

4: A huge gap will be blasted through the historic Willow Walk, to be spanned no doubt by an ugly modern bridge; ditto the ancient footpath, only recently recreated, a little to the south

5: The quality and character of the Trust’s lands at Kennington could be compromised

6: Numerous trees on the route will have to be destroyed.

All this for what? The relief of floods which may or may not occur once every ten years or so!

Perhaps if inept former city councils had not covered low-lying land with acres of concrete (eg Osney Mead and the vulgar string of commercial properties along the Botley Road) such flood problems might not exist. Where does the Trust stand in all this and also CPRE?

Are they going to stand by and let all this destruction take place or will they adopt a firm stand and oppose it tooth-and-nail?

P.M. Chatfield, Faringdon