Sir – Am I the only person who thinks that the idea of building another 7,000 houses in West Oxfordshire is lunacy?

The whole of the Government’s South-East Plan, from which this figure derives, is predicated on moving millions of extra people into the south-east, while the south-eastern coast of England is crumbling into the sea and increasingly elaborate flood defences are needed to keep London from drowning. More and more green spaces disappear, and the infrastructure is stretched to breaking point.

Instead, scrap the ill-conceived South-East Plan, and take steps to reverse the London magnet. For a start, how about moving the seat of Government north and west, to Manchester or Liverpool? Watch business and enterprise follow, and give the south and south-east some breathing space.

Katy Jennison, Oxford