Keith Mitchell, Leader of Oxfordshire County Council, decrees that Oxford is to be transformed and wants no one to stand in his way (Oxford Mail, October 22).

We share his ambition to make Oxford a more pleasant city for pedestrians.

But Oxford is a city in which people live and work – it is not just a market town for the county.

So it should not be split in two by badly thought-out transport arrangements.

The key issue is access to the city centre for Oxford residents living east of The Plain.

All of these residents – including older people, people with disabilities and parents with pushchairs – need access to the centre so that they can work, shop and enjoy their city’s wonderful heritage.

The Tories at County Hall need to explain how their proposals can be implemented without turning The Plain into a bus station, forcing people to take two buses when one would do and making people walk long distances to a bus stop.

They also need to ensure that Oxford residents are consulted – and we mean really consulted – about the proposals.

Oxford residents remember only too well how the county’s Tory administration rode rough-shod over the massive opposition to residents’ parking charges.

We hope that this time the county council will replace Kaiser-like imperial arrogance with a genuinely open mind.

LIZ BRIGHOUSE (Councillor) BARBARA GATEHOUSE (Councillor) JOHN SANDERS (Councillor) VAL SMITH (Councillor) Leader county councillors for divisions east of The Plain