During the second half of August, barely a day went by without the Oxford Mail printing a report or a letter exposing the threat that the City Council poses to Oxford’s natural environment, and to its Green Belt in particular.

Included in this are the destruction of trees and the wild-flower meadow at Cowley Marsh (Report Aug 23, letters Aug 25, 28), and another meadow and wildlife habitat at the southern end of Abingdon Road which, moreover, is situated in the Green Belt (Letter Aug 21).

Having surreptitiously removed all protection for the Green Belt in the current Local Plan, the council now includes no fewer than eight sites for development within the Green Belt in its new Local Plan. This amounts to official vandalism.

All this is in pursuit of land for affordable housing. Yet the need for this is based on discredited figures and is made worse by the council contributing to the housing shortage by allowing developers to provide far less affordable housing than the stipulated quota, such as at Cowley Centre and Westgate, and none at all at Barton Park.

Whilst continuing to ignore brownfield sites within the city (Letter Aug 31), they browbeat neighbouring councils to provide the land for them, mostly in the Green Belt around Oxford contributing hugely to urban sprawl.

To this, Cllr Price states that it will not amount to urban sprawl because it will be very nice. This is part of the council’s strategy of playing politics with the Green Belt. Instead of dealing with the arguments, Cllr Hollingsworth, for example, attacks a fellow councillor for representing his constituents’ interests (Report Aug 18). How fatuous!

Having felled trees and destroyed the wild-flower meadow at Cowley Marsh, the council fooled no-one that this was not a preparation for siting its depot there (Report Aug 23, letter Aug 28), or that there was no alternative (Letter Aug 25).

And when residents opposed the decision, the Council recalled the proposal, held another committee meeting, and went ahead anyway. So much for democracy, the residents complained (Report Aug 23).

And all this took place against the public consultation on Oxford’s new Local Plan which the council arranged when people were away on their summer holidays. Thi

s amounts to an abuse of power by an authority which knows it has an unassailable majority in council and on its planning committees. However, planning remains part of the democratic process. Now that the Local Plan is back with the council, its website assures us it has listened to the comments. We shall see, but the omens are not good.

The Government’s website stipulates that comments by local people are vital to the process and that councils must demonstrate their duty to co-operate when the Planning Inspector examines their Local Plans. Beyond that, the plan will be open to challenge in the courts.

Oxford City Council should beware of this for, in its deliberations, it is still not too late to start behaving responsibly and pay proper respect to Oxford’s Green Belt and the landscape setting of this world-renowned city.

NIGEL HISCOCK

Great Clarendon Street, Oxford