I AGREE, totally, with Chris Brewer’s views about the Westgate Centre (ViewPoints, May 28). As he says, this part of central Oxford was the main residential area until the council decided that what the city needed was, the fad of the moment, a shopping centre. What happened next was the destruction of this large area of Oxford in what was described, at the time, as an act of vandalism.

Although some of the houses in the area were of poor quality, many were not. The ancient exit to the west, Castle Street, went with this destruction, along with some of the last timber-framed houses in the city. The view of this street was considered attractive enough to be sketched by the Oxford architect, JC Buckler.

To replace the present white elephant with something that is an even bigger one seems to defy belief. I would have thought that there is an insufficient number of people living in central Oxford to make use of a shopping area of this size and, as far as tourists are concerned, it would hold little attraction. The only other users would be local residents and who, in their right mind, would want to attract people on to the already difficult and congested roads to get to this shopping centre?

Drive into the car park, shop and drive out again? The chance to return this area to much-needed houses seems to have been lost. One has to wait to see how long this new centre will last before it is seen to be outdated.

DERRICK HOLT

Fortnam Close

Headington