Sir, Alex Hollingsworth, leader of the city council, wants Oxford to be a unitary authority. He says, "The issue is all about accountability . . . people in Oxford cant hold to account people who make decisions about their lives."

How ironic! The absolute basis of accountability is knowing what our representatives are up to, in our name.

But Mr Hollingsworth and his council have carefully refrained from answering repeated questions, over many months, about their policy on the Westgate expansion.

They know that expanding the commercial centre by up to a third is based on persuading another 20,000 shoppers a day to drive long distances across the county to shop in Oxford. The cost will be added congestion across Oxfordshire, hundreds more buses travelling to the centre, and a further rise in pollution in central streets.

Many people do not want added congestion around the city, and they do not want more crowds and pollution in the centre.

They know the expansion will make money for Capital Shopping Centres plc, the developers, but they think the environment matters more. But it seems councillors take the other tack.

So will Mr Hollingsworth and his council take a deep breath and tell us why they prefer to damage the environment, for the benefit of the developers? We, their constituents, want to know. This is not a party point. It is addressed to all parties, and especially to the Green Party. Miss Dhall is concerned that the Westgate extension will damage council housing at Abbey Place. But she and the whole Green Party ought to be campaigning every day against the principle of a traffic-generating expansion.

Why don't they? Will they tell us? And will they put it in their local elections campaign literature?

Michel Treisman, Oxford