Sir – Your leader (July 23) on the bus changes in Queen Street says that “if all goes according to plan” we could see the pedestrianisation of George Street in 2010.

But the trouble is that Oxfordshire County Council has yet to publish the detailed plans, and there is a danger that the change will have an unacceptable impact on Beaumont Street and St Giles — two of Oxford’s finest streets.

The council proposes to turn round the 2, 6 and 7 bus services in front of the Martyrs’ Memorial, where they will have to cross the stream of all the traffic to and from Beaumont Street, including the other bus services and taxis diverted from George Street. Without a complicated bus gate in St Giles, which could itself cause long tailbacks, there could be increased delays for all buses and taxis.

Access has to be preserved to the back gates of Balliol and Trinity Colleges, so moving the inward bus stops northwards from Magdalen Street East could involve disrupting the historic forecourt of St John’s College.

Moving the outward stops northwards from Debenhams will force shoppers to cross a busier Beaumont Street, could be damaging to the Taylorian, and impede access by school parties to the Ashmolean’s new education centre.

In addition, the scheme seems to ignore future needs. If Westgate is enlarged with a John Lewis store in Oxpens Road, the 2, 6 and 7 services should be extended to it, giving more shoppers direct access by bus and helping to create a central interchange between city services.

Retaining only a single link through Beaumont Street between the north and west of the city can only increase congestion and reduce access, particularly to the railway station and the West End. On present evidence, George Street should remain a bus priority route.

Tony Joyce, Chairman, Oxford Civic Society