WITH reference to discussion in the Oxford Mail about consultation on development in Oxfordshire, Roger Freedman, of London Regeneration Ltd, recently wrote to Sutton Courtenay Parish Council about his application for a 360 dwelling housing estate as follows: At the end of 2015 the Chancellor, George Osborne announced that 15,000 new houses were to be built in Didcot and surrounding villages.

This clearly includes Sutton Courtenay, and is now government policy.

In our calculations we believe that Sutton Courtenay will have planning permission for at least another 1,000 houses imposed upon them by central government in the next couple of years.

We believe that this is set in stone and no amount of petitions, action groups or legal challenges will change things.

Some questions about this: 1. What dubious calculation is the need based on, since Sutton Courtenay already has applications in progress or indicated intentions for 1,038 dwellings in the next couple of years’, identified in the district’s local plan, which does not include the site he is applying for.

2. In what way is this democracy an imposition forced by the Chancellor and local objections, petitions, action groups, legal challenges ignored?

Perhaps our MP Ed Vaizey would like to tackle this apparent slide to authoritarian central government?

DR P WILSON Milton Road Sutton Courtenay