Sir – Hugh Jaeger (Letters, January 15) is wrongly equating concern for the environment with an anti-rail stance.

Network Rail’s draft long-term plans include options for improving capacity and these are rightly subject to consultation as to their impact on the areas affected.

I and my Lib Dem colleagues are indeed horrified at the suggestion of a flyover alongside Port Meadow; this does not mean that we are anti-rail, but that we are pro-environment.

If Hugh really does not see the grounds for objecting, I can only assume that he would have been in favour of the Christ Church Meadow road proposed in 1956 to relieve traffic in the High Street.

Liberal Democrats are very much in favour of the huge investment in the railways as a much more sustainable transport mode than roads.

But that does not mean that any suggested measure has to be supported unthinkingly. As local councillors, we will always strive to balance the need for expanding capacity, as for example on the Oxford-Bicester line, with the need to minimise the impact on neighbouring properties, and protect the environment and special areas like Port Meadow.

Network Rail needs to come up with a proposal which respects the environment while improving capacity on the railway.

Jean Fooks, Liberal Democrat county councillor for Wolvercote and Summertown, Oxford