Sir — Bob Price of the city council objects to your calling his council’s attempt to grab land a “land grab”(Letters, October 3).

But this is surely an exact description of the city’s push to annexe a wide swathe of the Green Belt from Sandford round to Horspath from SODC against its wishes.

He also objects to CPRE calling this an expansionist plan to develop the Green Belt in stages. He seems to claim the plan is to develop only a tiny corner of the land they propose to seize, whilst leaving the rest untouched — but why would they want to grab it in order to leave it alone?

Isn’t the real reason that if the city can wrest this land away from a council who strongly oppose the nod to the concrete mixers. How else are we to interpret Mr Price’s odd claim that the city “are happy with large parts of the Green Belt” other than meaning they are up for building over the rest of it?

There is no need to do so of course. The city has accepted that it could build all the houses it needs within its present boundaries. The South East regional plan shows how economic growth can be achieved without sacrificing Green Belt land. The city wants to sprawl out over surrounding countryside and the Green Belt stands in its way.

Exactly what it was put in place to do, incidentally.

The Green Belt performs both an environmental and an economic function in protecting the villages within it, and the county beyond it, from an expansionist city, and making sure Oxfordshire remains an attractive place to live and work. Don’t let the city council ruin it.

Michael Tyce, Campaign to Protect Rural England, Holton