FOR a long time now admirers of the world-famous City of Oxford have been concerned about policies which the city council perpetrates in its attempts to make it a world-class city.

For example, although one of the city’s main problems is that it is overcrowded, they are hellbent on increasing what they call the ‘footfall’.

However, as the Westgate prepares to open, they have realised that it might deprive our more traditional traders of business, possibly leaving behind something of a ghost worldclass city in places, so they have suggested a new ‘Oxford Pound’ digital currency, which would give a 10 per cent discount to ‘app users’.

This is basically a good idea, but why digital, and why restricted to app users?

App users are young people with unnecessarily expensive and complex telephones.

Those who are more likely to use the Oxford currency in small local shops and appreciate the discount given for using it are often older or poorer people, who do not have these devices.

Areas like the watershed of the Cowley Road (mentioned in the report) are very mixed, but students and tourists and reporters and professors could use paper money too.

There is, moreover, a big advantage in paper vouchers for the issuer (the city council, and thus all the citizens).

People will take it away without spending it, and will even be buying it from souvenir shops or the information bureau with no intention of spending it.

I am not an economist, but this has got to be like the council printing money (or expensive novelty postcards).

Other councils as diverse as Stroud, Lewes, Bristol, Totnes, and Brixton (the one in London) have done this successfully.

Lewes promotes itself as the home of Thomas Paine, a founding father of the USA.

But a moment’s thought will suggest that poor old-fashioned Oxford is in a superb position to produce series of world-class local banknotes which would be snapped up by collectors.

The 2017 Lewes £5 and £1 notes promoting greener energy are on sale on eBay already for £11.99 the pair, or just the £1 note for an unbelievable £399 in a ‘limited edition’ (from the same seller, ‘pennywisepaul’). 

There is a Bristol £20 note which sells for £29.99, a nice profit for the citizen selling it, but the profit to the council issuing them must be considerable (after all, it is viable for Lewes to print £1 notes).

The 2011 £10 Brixton note featuring David Bowie (who was born there) can be obtained from a dealer in Canada for £39.99.

Wonderland, Narnia, Middle Earth, or Lyra’s Oxford, anybody? The Bodleian Library.

It seems obvious to me that if Oxford adopts a merely digital local pound, that would be an opportunity lost!

And the local community would love to spend real local pounds in real local shops.

ROGER MORETON East Oxford