Sir – My heart goes out to Didcot residents for the way they have been treated regarding plans for phase one of the Didcot Gateway (Letters, May 15).


Consultation on development apparently means telling us what they have already decided, asking what we think and then ignoring it. Informing us, not consulting us. That is exactly what we in Botley have experienced in our own West Way development saga.


We want some development at West Way, but something which is good for residents and for Botley, based on local knowledge and understanding. We haven’t been listened to so far. However, we envy the Didcot residents as those plans have been put on hold.


Doric’s plans for Botley are taking a different course. Although the planning application is still in the consultation period, months from the planning committee meeting, the South and Vale chief executive has recently gone on record as saying that ‘the partnership [of Doric and Mace Group] will certainly help to ensure the long-term success and deliverability of this vital regeneration project for Botley’.


That is surely a message that this development is going to happen. The many hundreds of valid material planning objections being submitted from local residents, from our MP, from bodies such as the Diocese of Oxford, Oxford City Council, Sovereign Housing, Oxford Architectural and Heritage Society and nearly all the retailers in Botley seem to carry no weight.
With council leaders making such public statements of support, what chance is there that the planning arm of the council will be able to operate fairly and impartially?
Planning and development feels more and more like the fight between the boy David (local residents) and the giant Goliath (council and developers). But there is hope — David won.
D Parkinson, Oxford