So the Government has called in a group of so-called 'experts' to advise it on where eco-towns are built.

Do they know anything about Oxfordshire?

They have pontificated about Weston Otmoor, the proposed eco-town near Bicester, without talking to the local community.

The suspicion is that the Government is setting up such a body to deflect the blame when the flak starts to fly.

Decisions of this magnitude should be made by local planners who know the area, not by the Government or its quangos.