IT IS very heartening to know that Oxford city councillor Bob Timbs has the Barton Pavilion in hand, and that the building will soon be replaced (Oxford Mail letters, May 21).

However, the real thrust of my annoyance on polling day, which was lost in the Insider column in favour of my comments about the state of the building, was that the line on the map of Barton – designating which people would vote at which site – was drawn with no regard as to the proximity of streets to polling stations.

The decision meant that many of us, including those in residences for the elderly, were forced to travel much more than the 100 or so metres to the community centre.

So the comment from Oxford City Council suggesting it is more important for democracy that people have a building to vote in locally than it is to have a facility which is in exemplary condition, smacks of smugness and a lack of local knowledge, and therefore rings very hollow.

PIPPA GWILLIAM, Barton, Oxford