The Oxford Mail has published a whole-page spread about the proposed extended new shopping mall and multi-storey car park on the publicly-owned land behind the Westgate centre.

We are told this “will” extend current chain-store provision in Oxford city centre and that construction work “is starting next year for a 2017 opening”.

The managing director of John Lewis says: “We’re looking forward to becoming part of the local community.”

No one would guess that the scheme has not been given planning permission, has not yet even been consulted on and is, therefore, not a foregone conclusion.

John Lewis will not come to Oxford centre without a huge new multi-storey car park, which will need to attract thousands of additional car and lorry journeys along the already highly congested Botley and Abingdon Roads.

The car park is proposed with two storeys underground, on the edge of the floodplain, adjacent to residential areas of Oxford (west and south) which have flooded badly in recent years. In addition, we need to ask if chain-store expansion really is the best use of public land?

In this central area held in trust by Oxford City Council for all of us, we could if the political will was there, build affordable homes and small business units, creating a network of lanes like that which is so popular and successful in Brighton. Our city centre community hub in this already residential area is currently without dedicated community facilities or space.

But ideally before we are all told what “will” be on this land, a public planning exercise should be held where people can have a say on what happens on this highly accessible piece of our land.

Given that this idea is pie in the sky in today’s Oxford, the least people need to know is that the Westgate expansion is no foregone conclusion and we can yet all have a say in whether we actually want this proposal to go ahead.

SUSHILA DHALL Stable Close, Rewley Park, Oxford