Sir – The story (January 29) that Oxford is the least affordable city in the UK, is not news to the residents of the city and locale and should really be the last warning shot over the Oxfordshire County Council bow.

Years of planning failure, lack of energy, drive and vision has prevented any real new green developments in the city or nearby . Acres of space at Upper Heyford for example, left empty to rot under the wheels of cars no one wants. The county’s response? 11 years of waffle on a local planning application . . . it beggars belief.

What response has there been? More local little boxes crammed into Bicester, Didcot and Grove — it’s just a numbers game to these guys.

Where are the micro green hamlets in little nooks and crannies in the county? The small green new villages? The use of acres of brown space in the county and the city?

The new eco-town may not have been in the right place, but surely with a bit of imagination we can get this sorted. Oxfordshire needs to grow sustainably. If Oxfordshire County Council and its leaders continue to waffle and prevaricate, exercising almost no delivery skills, the time is now. Ship out and let someone else have a go.

Julian Fifield, Combe