AS a resident and frequent user of the retail and professional services which Headington has to offer, I would like to thank all the businesses who displayed posters and helped to collect signatures in favour of saving Headington car park from Oxford City Council’s detrimental building plan.

I also thank the residents, workers and visitors to the area for signing the petition.

My thanks also go to Stella Welford – who spent her valuable time collecting signatures in said car park – for organising and collecting the views expressed by many people on the street, who willingly put their signature to a petition to stop this crackpot idea.

Councillors David Rundle and Ruth Wilkinson started things off but the people on the ground did the collecting of signatures and were able to find out the true feeling regarding the loss of this valuable asset.

At a time when the local shopping area is struggling to survive due to the current economic situation, building on this car park would have been detrimental to many of the retail and professional businesses that are here.

The many charity shops Headington encompasses would also find it hard if their donors and customers stopped coming into the locality. It would have been most unfair to produce homes for people and diminish the local facilities at the same time.

While we have a great need for housing in Oxford, we should also be aware of the requirements of the existing community.

JILL CUMMINGS London Road Headington