Sir – Having read through the notes of the Oxford Core Strategy examination procedural meeting held at Oxford Town Hall on February 9, and attended previous meetings, there is only one thing to say to the inspector about the Northern Gateway: No! The slick patter from the Northern Gateway Consortium, like that from the mouths of politicians, is so utterly untrustworthy with its commercial agenda, spin and patronising overtones, and is also out of step with the citizens of Oxford.

Just read the notes from the meeting. They clearly have no concept or interest in the problems they need to address and overcome; only the financial gain they hope to make. How can we possibly support such arrogant commercialism? The council in turn need to wise up.

Improvements to one of the finest cities in the world will always be welcomed; however, they can also be catastrophes, and the developments they are proposing will impact on Oxford for years to come, not simply for the duration of their political tenure.

Oxford is beset with evidence of poor planning and half-cocked developments, so the idea of trying to avoid further planning delays, rather than ensuring all scenarios are planned for and all information is both available and up-to-date, should have the councillors de-selected. With roads gridlocked and no evidence of a strategy to tackle it eg Wolvercote roundabout (what a marvellous idea, bringing a trunk road through a residential road!); confusion over the future of bus services; the Westgate development still to be confirmed; a vast number of business premises still empty; the councils need to prove themselves as capable of improving our lot, rather than riding roughshod over the wishes of the electorate.

We live in a democracy, thank God, and the council should remember that.

David Gautrey, Oxford