Sir – Part of the unique charm of Oxford, and not least its distinctive physical layout, comes from the river valleys of the Isis and the Cherwell.

A look at the ‘blue’ areas on the Environment Agency flood risk map provides the reason: little if any development has taken place in these areas since Oxford first came into existence.

But just suppose there were to be an enormous concrete channel running from Wolvercote to Sandford, diverting occasional flooding away from these water meadows. At a stroke the blue areas would be ‘whitewashed’.

And perhaps a similar channel running down the Cherwell valley from Islip to Christ Church Meadow would be equally ‘beneficial’?

Might it be that the real reason some people are arguing for the construction, at considerable expense, of the Oxford Flood Relief Channel/ Western Conveyance Scheme is not to provide relief for residents along Botley Road and Abingdon Road but because – as if by magic – vast areas of potentially developable land would become available.

Challenges to the city’s Green Belt would make the current argument about Grenoble Road seem like a vicar’s tea party.

Perhaps it’s no surprise that politicians, businesses and, not least, the big construction companies are so keen on the idea?

But one might hazard a guess that residents of South Hinksey, for example, would prefer occasional sandbag protection to being swallowed up by housing estates?

Greg Birdseye
Oxford