We write to reassure your correspondent Greg Drew, October 13, that there are no plans to lose the parking at the Diamond Place car park when the site is redeveloped.

While the city council’s original idea was indeed to reduce the parking significantly in order to have the retail-led development he mentions, the public outcry, fuelled by the fiasco in St Clement’s, led to the city agreeing to retain enough car parking to ensure the viability of the district centre.

In the recent consultation on the plans for the redevelopment of the two car parks, the public preference was for there to be more – not less – parking to meet the needs of both the existing use and any future increased demand from new retail or housing.

The draft development brief for the site will be published for further consultation in November. We expect this to include provision for a new health centre and new public toilets, as well as a multi-storey car park and housing as well as retail units.

The site will need to be well-designed for both pedestrians and cyclists, joining up as far as possible with existing routes.

Cllr Jean Fooks, Cllr Andrew Gant, Liberal Democrat councillors for Summertown

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