Sir – It has taken just two years since the reservoir saga ended for the proposal to build on the area to be mooted (Report, July 4). It is not a new idea.

Twenty years ago, our MP at the time said better to have a reservoir than a new town there. Being heavy clay, inundated in many parts with standing water in wet winters, it is completely unsuitable for building on. Some existing houses suffered considerable cracking to walls in the drought more than 20 years ago. So a spokesman is acting on behalf of several landowners — would Thames Water be among them? It bought up land and several properties in the area which it would no doubt now like to dispose of. I made the point to the reservoir inquiry that because an area is not statutorily protected, it should not be seen as open for development. The area is significant as the largest least-built-on countryside space in Oxfordshire and is worth keeping on that account. In 2011, I proposed to Vale of White Horse District Council that it become a Nature Improvement Area (NIA) as a contribution to Government’s aspiration to prevent further biodiversity loss, but it fell on deaf ears.

Perhaps the CPRE could lead the way to achieving this or are we to have another 20 years of fighting to keep the heritage of the Vale from the avarice of developers?

C. Spinage, Faringdon