Sir – In the redesign of Frideswide Square (Report, March 8) there are two tasks to be addressed. The first is undoubtedly to ensure that the various types of traffic can flow freely without causing grief to one another.

The second and equal task, however, is to create a portal to those entering Oxford and a civic space worthy of this ancient city.

Frideswide Square should be a focal point for the new developments envisaged here, form the image of Oxford for those on trains entering the station or passing through and as a ‘boulevard’ should allow space for trees and people as well as for cars — in its built form, not just as a concept.

Design is an area in which the city has not always excelled in the recent past and this story awakes new fears.

At a point in time when, apparently, both the budget and the construction date have already been set, we are told that detailed design work is yet to begin.

Surely it must be urban design that reconciles the disparate needs of the traffic (it seems cyclists are not happy with either planning option under consideration), integrates future options for the nascent travel hub and creates a public asset to reflect the stature of the ‘city of dreaming spires’?

The term ‘landscaping’ implies making something look good after the hard work of making it work well has been completed.

Should not quality of life be addressed together with the more quantifiable traffic planning issues at stake, all parties seated around the same table?

Masterplanning this area calls for an imaginative solution, perhaps a design competition among professionals; a meeting of the many minds and disciplines that must be represented to link visions of the Oxstalls of the future, with more concrete proposals for this square today — at the same time, not one after another.

Geoffrey Brown, Wantage