Sir – It would detract immeasurably from the quality of life of the people of Headington and north-east Oxford if the car park next to Waitrose were lost to housing. The commercial prospects of the local shops would also be severely affected.

I recently moved to Headington from Yorkshire and was immensely cheered to find my favourite supermarket, a wonderful library in Bury Knowle park and also a small but perfectly formed car park so that I could access the two with no difficulty.

The surrounding streets are almost entirely given over to residents’ parking, Thornhill park-and-ride is almost entirely occupied by commuters and is full soon after the rush hour. Just what are shoppers supposed to do when they want to stock up for the week?

People from the surrounding villages would probably be worst affected but the residents of Headington themselves value this car park enormously.

Surely there is a balance to be struck here: Headington is already a heavily populated area and so the loss of local amenities to even more dense housing does not make economic or social sense.

Anthea Boylston, Headington