Sir - The proposal to relocate the fire and police services to Pear Tree is a disturbing proposal which ought to be resisted, as it further erodes the role of Oxford as a city in which a civilised, balanced and sustainable life can be lead.

It also raises questions as to whether the proposal is being advanced more for capital receipts than for operational purposes.

The fire station in Rewley Road is central to the city and the quickest route to any destination is from the centre. The dense urban area of the city centre is the most probable location for a fire and a three-mile journey from Pear Tree in the morning or evening rush hours unlikely to improve response times.

The police station in St Aldate's performs a vital role in the city to residents and tourists alike.

On the occasions when I have visited it there, it has always been quite crowded, so much so that a ticket system operates. Are these people expected to make their way out to Pear Tree. The suggestion that an alternative office might be provided at the council offices indicates that it will operate standard office hours, Monday to Friday. Hardly an acceptable alternative. The justification for these proposals is that they are in the Local Plan.

This document was years late in being produced and its glaring inadequacies are becoming all too apparent. For example, the requirement that half of all residential development is social housing has dented developers' profits who have changed to providing student housing where no such obligation applies. To use it to dictate where public emergency services should be based is hardly credible.

The services must stay in the centre where they are accessible to the population at large and not in some remote peripheral site.

A. Watson, Oxford