Sir - In continuing to promote the former Cold War air base at Upper Heyford as a suitable site for 5,000 houses, Keith Mitchell writing as leader of Oxfordshire County Council (Letters, April 25) laments that the site, "is to be mothballed as a monument to the Cold War that few will visit and no one will be willing to pay for".

It might reward Mr Mitchell to read his council's own Structure Plan in which policy H2 supports the settlement of 1,000 houses, "as a means of enabling environmental improvements and the heritage interest of the site as a military base with Cold War associations".

As "enabling development", the 1,000 houses, and rents from suitable commercial uses, should remove any concerns that Mr Mitchell has about financing the heritage site. He should also be aware of his Structure Plan policy EN6 that requires nationally and internationally important archaeological remains to be "preserved in situ", and that both English Heritage and the Department of Culture Media and Sport have made it clear that this is the best preserved Cold War site in the country.

Whether the heritage site will be attractive to few or many visitors might depend on whether Mr Mitchell continues to encourage both Cherwell and Oxfordshire councils to play down the historical importance of the former air base. While the former Prime Minister has poignantly expressed a regret that he had studied law at university and not history, the council leader would happily bury remains of international significance under thousands of houses.

If Mr Mitchell could tell us why the Cold War is unimportant to our history, we might understand why Upper Heyford would not be worth visiting.

Daniel Scharf, Oxford Trust for Contemporary History, Cholsey