AS YET, it is not clear whether the additional traffic that would be generated by the Northern Gateway development can be satisfactorily handled by the measures so far proposed.

What isn’t in doubt is that people living close to the Northern Gateway site have substantial and legitimate concerns about traffic and other issues that it raises.

To give one example of the latter, the proposal to remove several fields beside Joe White’s Lane from the green belt for housing development looks like a controversial encroachment on an environmentally sensitive resource and a precious part of Oxford’s green lungs.

People in Wolvercote, North Oxford and beyond are rightly concerned about the city council’s enthusiasm for the Northern Gateway development, and worry that it is being, in effect, steamrollered through.

That’s why I’d urge them to make their views known by commenting online as soon as possible, and certainly by September 15 and asking the questions that need to be asked about traffic, biodiversity and other concerns.

Steve Goddard, Oxford city councillor (Liberal Democrat), Wolvercote ward

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