Sir, Your heading Unitary hope fading (Report, November 3) implies that there is a popular desire for unitary authorities in Oxfordshire. If you mean a free-standing Oxford city, divorced from its hinterland, or districts given unitary status, then I hope you are wrong. Memories of the chaos that resulted from unitisation of Berkshire in the early 90s have dimmed and the real costs are not widely reported here in Oxfordshire, but the threats have not changed.

I believe some 30,000 Oxfordshire people signed a petition to fight off the last threat of unitisation and I hope we show the same response if it appears at all likely to happen now, at anything less than county level.

Admittedly the structure this time is different and the agenda is more in our own hands.

Districts, individually or in combination, are invited to apply to become unitary authorities, but equally the option exists for the county council to apply. There is also the option for the county council to apply for a "Pathfinder Initiative", involving much closer working between the existing authorities.

It is hard from a position outside the councils to see why this is not already happening.

The leader of the county council, councillor Keith Mitchell is reported to consider it unlikely that Oxfordshire councils might pull together in time to bid to be among the first wave of pioneer pathfinders'.

Come on councillor Mitchell, we need a leader who will show real leadership. The choices available are important and deserve more oomph than your " unlikely to pull together in time to bid ".

If you don't plant a standard for the county people may well follow someone else's lead by default.

Robin Buxton, Harwell