Sir – I am surprised at the sparsity of your report on future gravel extraction in Oxfordshire (March 26).

I firstly need to declare that for more than 30 years, I have lived in the most excavated part of West Oxfordshire, which has suffered from providing a ten-year average of 76 per cent of Oxfordshire gravel (compared with 24 per cent in South Oxfordshire, of which much goes to Reading), while having a demand considerably below 50 per cent. Quite rightly, this is the one angle which has now been partially corrected in the current document. The amendment, to which you refer on page 10, was defeated by only three votes, 26 to 23.

The opposition parties, Labour and Liberal Democrats, but not the Greens, voted to approve the draft strategy, which contained out-of-date information, misleading consultation reports on the wrong figures and an annual gravel excavation plan of 280 per cent of the last published annual excavation data – viz 1.015m in the latest draft and 402,000 tonnes in 2013.

A more sensible annual excavation policy would be a ten-year rolling average as suggested by the NPPF adjusted for exceptional local circumstances. This would be currently 715,000 tonnes, which is still some 75 per cent over 2013 actual figures, sufficient to overcome any exceptional circumstances.

I believe that however urgent a core strategy is needed in Oxfordshire, the adoption of one against its interests should not dictate how one votes when that leaves Oxfordshire to rue the policy for the next 15 years to its very considerable rural and eco detriment. The draft policy as adopted on Tuesday may prove an embarrassment to the Opposition parties, when the Inspector rejects this document at Examination in Public, as I think he undoubtedly must in mid-summer.

Charles Mathew
Oxfordshire county councillor for the division of Eynsham