Sir – In response to the public meeting expressing strong local opposition to the current proposal for redeveloping Botley’s shopping centre, Simon Hillcox, of Doric Properties, repeated the statistical mantra that he and his associates have been circulating for weeks: “The key statistic here is that 70 per cent of people who live locally do their main shopping elsewhere.” (Report, November 21).

But Doric’s own data from their March consultation tell a different story. Results from their survey question: ‘Where do you do your main shop?’, which were available online during the summer but which have since disappeared from view, gave this breakdown by location: Botley/West Way (229 responses), Abingdon (91), Heyford Hill (68), Kidlington (34) — or 54 per cent of people doing their main shop locally according to these figures. Not everyone answered this question by location and Doric do not say how the missing 27 per cent fit into their ‘key statistic’.

But most people did answer the question by shop: Co-op (282), Sainsbury (156), Tesco (93), Aldi (81), Waitrose (72), Iceland (47) — 731 responses from 616 people in total, with some people listing more than one shop. I find it hard to imagine local people driving great distances to go to a Co-op, Aldi, or Iceland, other than the ones that are already within walking distance. These figures total 56 per cent of responses and if we add Tesco (which may or may not refer to the smaller local one), the figure reaches 70 per cent. The absurdity of Doric’s claim that their massive superstore will actually reduce traffic by encouraging people to shop locally is abundantly clear. I personally do not trust people whose claims are based on bad math and malicious reconstruction of reality — and neither should Vale of White Horse District Council’s planning authority when it comes to reviewing Doric’s application.

Caroline Potter, Botley