WHILE any moves to ‘mitigate’ the visual impact of the Castle Mill student blocks have to be welcomed, campaigners should not let it placate them over the whole sorry saga.

If anything, it should spur them on with the knowledge that they are moving in the right direction.

Let’s be blunt: realistically those accommodation blocks are not going to come down in size any time soon.

But the announcement by Oxford City Council and Oxford University of further tree planting shows both realise they need to be seen to be taking some action.

The initial denials that there was anything seriously wrong at all with the view from Port Meadow have long subsided.

More foliage obscuring the blocks (in the summer at least) will result in many differing views over whether it does enough to screen the buildings.

But that is missing the key point over the approval to build the accommodation for 312 postgraduate students: the whole planning process was flawed.

Oxford City Council blundered in its handling of the application and the suppression of an unhelpful report over the impact on the skyline from the planning committee remains a lingering issue the council has never satisfactorily explained.

The blocks are a blight, but much of the damage has been done because permission was given without the public (and seemingly councillors) being aware of the impact.

When the dust settles on this sorry affair, Oxford City Council and the university must acknowledge that they cannot play fast and loose with our planning process and then plant a few pretty trees by way of compensation.