The contradictions in the Westgate redevelopment plans in Oxford increase with every new version.

The original planning application for the Westgate extension was rejected by the Secretary of State on the grounds that it was too large.

With each revision, the scheme has got larger and now extends right across Abbey Place, requiring the demolition of the Duke of York and the Abbey Place flats.

It was argued originally that Oxford needed 30 or so additional shops to remain competitive.

This argument was then reversed and it was said that the shops would not be financially viable unless an additional 10,000 people were attracted into the city every day.

We were told that the Westgate extension was essential to remove buses from Queen Street.

Now we are told that the Westgate development does not require the pedestrianisation of Queen Street and that, in fact, the buses may not be removed from Queen Street.

The latest traffic proposals would create a situation far worse than the existing one.

Queen Street cannot cope with the existing one-way bus traffic. Norfolk Street, which is proposed as a main bus route and which is considerably narrower than Queen Street, cannot possibly cope with two-way buses, or even the present one-way traffic.

To accommodate the buses, and the bus stops envisaged, it would need to be as wide as Castle Street -- almost three times its present width. The original plans for the Westgate extension included a bus hub, something which was widely welcomed. Now it is proposed to replace this with a bus stopping and turning area in Abbey Place, adjacent to the entry and exit points for the proposed multi-storey car park.

The resulting noise and pollution for people living in this stretch of Thames Street and for the occupants of the housing proposed for the south side of the multi-storey car park would be intolerable.

The Oxpens/St Ebbe's area is not some vast tract of derelict land which can be used to accommodate any development or transport scheme for which space cannot be found elsewhere. People live here.

They do so because the city council has promoted numerous housing developments to attract people back into the city centre.

The council has a duty to protect these residents from the vast increase in traffic -- both cars and buses -- which this scheme would produce. It is time councillors realised that the extension of the Westgate is the problem, not the solution.

Barbara Raw, Thames Street, Oxford