ALAN Kerry (ViewPoints, Oct 31) tells another sad story of Oxford City Council’s unreasonable attempts to require payment for release of restrictive covenants on properties. In the case reported (October 25), it was only the intervention of the ombudsman that reduced the demand to a half-way reasonable amount.

What that report did not make clear is that it was the work of the council’s ‘Value and Performance Scrutiny Committee’ that changed the wording in the new Asset Management Plan to prevent such unreasonable demands in future. The wording proposed by council officers was: “In relation to covenants the council has imposed, it will seek to enforce such covenants or where no longer required seek payment for its release or partial release where lawful to do so.”

My ward colleague, Cllr McCready, had alerted me to the case on the Sunnymead estate in North Oxford so that, working with other members of the scrutiny committee, we had the wording changed to: “In relation to covenants the council has imposed, it will seek to enforce such covenants where it is rational, sensible and proportional to do so, or, where no longer required, seek reasonable payment for its release or partial release where lawful to do so.” In fact, there is case law that shows no claim for payment should be made unless the claimant can show harm has been caused by any breach – i.e. what harm has been done to the council by a householder erecting a garden shed or extending his kitchen? Sense has at last prevailed – but Oxford City Council does not emerge with any credit for its past unreasonable demands.

JEAN FOOKS

Leader,

Liberal Democrats on Oxford City Council