As a long-term local activist in Rose Hill, I am surprised that Mr Rodrigo (Oxford Mail Viewpoints, April 26) doesn’t understand how the bus subsidy system works.

I must contradict him – his local Labour councillors were instrumental in introducing the new and popular Rose Hill-Cowley Centre service.

Standing up in public meetings to ask for change is very commendable for members of the public like Mr Rodrigo and Mr Wilkinson of the Tenants and Residents’ Association and their stance at meetings was helpful, but I think the people of Rose Hill expected more from their councillors, and what they got was action. Our task as local councillors was to try to ensure that when buses contracts came up for review last winter, Rose Hill was not forgotten. In this we succeeded.

I know that my colleagues on the city council, Ed Turner and Antonia Bance, made strong representations (as I did) to county transport officers. I had many months of correspondence and personal meetings with officers to consider where the money for a new contract would come from and which possible route would be most viable.

The county council had committed its previous bus subsidy budget by signing contracts with bus companies for 2006-10.

Mr Rodrigo must have thought that we councillors had some super powers that we could cancel legal contracts in 2007, when residents were asking us to provide a new bus service in Rose Hill.

John Sanders, County Councillor, Littlemore and Cowley Division