Sir – Parish councils in the vicinity of the former RAF Upper Heyford have been asked by the site’s owner to support more houses on this historic site (Proposals for more homes at Upper Heyford, May 8).

In the four years since the appeal decision allowing a development of about 1,000 dwellings some limited progress has been made to open up the site of international heritage importance to the public.

On its website the owner says that, “… it is proud to announce that the RAF Upper Heyford Heritage Company’s plans are well under way to have a fully running heritage centre on site… and will provide visitors and school groups with access to Europe’s Best Preserved Cold War Site, recently deemed to be one of the most important sites in the world for the study of the famous conflict by Head of English Heritage Simon Thurley.”. The Conservation Area designation based on its importance to Cold War heritage and comprising the setting to Listed Buildings and Scheduled Monuments should severely limit any further residential development on the former flying field.

Recent events in Europe and the Middle East have brought back into focus the need to understand the relations between NATO and Warsaw Pact countries during the Cold War period.

While the air base remains largely undeveloped it can, as an instructional monument, recall and communicate the threat of nuclear holocaust that hung over the world in the period up to 1991.

Given the owner’s claims regarding the historical importance of the site, and the responsibility of Cherwell District Council (with the support of English Heritage) to reject any development that would harm this heritage asset of international importance, it would be a travesty of planning control were further houses allowed outside the existing residential areas.

Daniel Scharf, Oxford Trust for Contemporary History, Drayton, near Abingdon