Sir – We are amazed at the county council’s plans to impose a deeply unpopular parking scheme on East Oxford.

In the county’s own consultation 61 per cent of residents said they were against the Magdalen Road Controlled Parking Zone (CPZ). Between Magdalen Road and Howard Street 78 per cent said 'no' to this ill-thought out scheme.

The CPZ will charge car-owners £50 a year (plus £15 for visitors’ permits) but with no greater availability of parking spaces. Parking on pavements will increase, single households will be entitled to fewer than one 24-hour visitor permit a week, and parking will be squeezed into neighbouring streets.

This CPZ is due to be forced through on Thursday, March 25, by a committee of one, Conservative councillor Rodney Rose, who does not even represent an Oxford division. Very sensibly the county has at least listened to the majority in Iffley Fields and is set on excluding that area from the CPZ. The county claims the rest of the CPZ will prevent parking by commuters, based on a flawed 2007 study. But most of the cars parked in the area belong not to commuters, but to residents and customers using local businesses, clubs and places of worship.

If this is Tory 'localism' heaven help us should the Conservatives win the General Election. We call on councillor Rose to listen to local people and save the taxpayer the £300,000 cost of the scheme.

He should either scrap this nonsensical parking scheme or exclude all the streets east of Magdalen Road.

John Tanner, Oxford

Mike Rowley, Oxford

Fazal Raza, Oxford

Andrea Hopkins, Oxford

Emmet Spier, Oxford

Dennis Pratley (Hairdresser), Oxford