Sir — Botley bungalow, eh! While there’s nothing wrong with Botley’s bungalows, that name would suggest a very different building from the one it is proposed to knock down in favour of a hotel.

This venerable two-storey stone cottage, dating from at least the 16th century (it was lived in by Thomas Wright in 1660) is one of the last remaining houses in Old Botley.

Sixty years ago there were 30 houses in the village. Now there are nine, and we are marooned on a traffic island with thousands of cars and dozens of huge lorries squeezing round the unsuitable roads every day to get into the industrial estates that surround us.

Just last week a lorry scraped the gutter off the cottage on the corner.

The one remaining substantial house was listed in 1976, but the rest of the village was deemed too far gone to be worth designating a conservation area.

And it is, of course!

But still, houses like this one are our ancient heritage, and should not lightly give way to characterless modern buildings with a shelf-life of perhaps 30 years. Botley is about to undertake a Neighbourhood Plan.

It is high time we took account of the character and integrity of this forgotten corner of the area. After all, it gave Botley its name.

Ag MacKeith, Old Botley