Sir – Mark Barrington-Ward (Letters, June 11) takes me to task over the comments of Lord Segal’s condemnation of planning in Oxford in that he had in mind the Seacourt development just outside the city.

I do admit that when Segal made his remarks I was still in short trousers at school and I do not normally read ancient copies of Hansard.

However the message of Segal was that the local authorities had failed to protect the heritage of Oxford and I am sure his lordship was aware of the boundary between Berkshire and Oxford as his full title of Wytham would include the county.

Mr Barrington-Ward then makes a plea for regional planning which is irrelevant in terms of the quality of design.

In fact the production of a new plan would encourage further development in a county which already has a de facto plan in that major development is about to take place in all the towns of the county such as Didcot, Witney, Grove, Abingdon, etc, and the creation of a garden city at Bicester and the promise of a tide of development sweeping across the MoD land to the east of Bicester.

These developments alone will provide all the development land that is needed for the foreseeable future without the recourse of developing any Green Belt surrounding Oxford which is being promoted by the city council, with the closet support of the Oxford Civic Society of which Mr Barrington-Ward is such a prominent member.

I would agree that the transport question needs attention to provide fixed public transport links from the new developments into the city which has, and will continue to have, an irresistible attraction which is inseparable from having a global reputation.

P. Hornby
Oxford