Sir - Councillor Goddard proposes burying 45 acres of safeguarded pasture under buildings and asphalt. His claim that this green lung north of Wolvercote is "not doing much" is unsound.

1. Open land absorbs rainfall. These pastures then drain via a brook into the Oxford Canal, which then feeds Castle Mill Stream and thence the Isis. 45 acres of buildings and asphalt would hasten surface run-off. The harm to the manageability of Castle Mill Stream and the Isis might be small, but it would be a sure step in the wrong direction.

2. Vegetation absorbs CO2. Traffic on the A34, A40 and A44 emits thousands of tonnes of climate changing gases, but 45 acres of grass and hedges help to reduce the damage.

3. Pasture generates almost no traffic. The government offers millions to upgrade access roads into Oxford, so the city proposes a business park whose extra traffic would help to negate any benefit from that upgrade!

Forget relief roads, slip roads or extra lanes. Road expansions attract more traffic until the roads become as congested as they were before.

Green field development should not be allowed unless it can be carbon neutral. Councillor Mitchell rightly links the proposal with transport improvements. But he should confine this to better rail and 'bus links, not roads.

One pasture of about 15 acres lies between Woodstock Road and the Oxford-Bicester railway. It could be developed under three conditions: 1. A rail siding should be built to deliver construction materials sustainably.

2. After construction, the siding should be replaced with an "Oxford Parkway" rail station. East West Rail's proposed Oxford to Milton Keynes trains should stop here.

3. Some of the pasture west of Woodstock Road should be planted as woodland. This would increase CO2 absorption and help to retard drainage into the canal.

Hugh Jaeger, Oxford