Sir – As a frequent visitor to Oxford, I was interested to read of the proposal for 900 new houses at Barton West, coupled with the suggestion that a “Sunderland Avenue” layout should be incorporated into the development.

Apart from the fact that the transport infrastructure in Oxford is already totally inadequate in coping with existing traffic levels, adding a further 900 homes, all with at least one if not two cars per household, will make the present situation even worse. The congestion at peak times, already excessive, will become even more intolerable, to say nothing of the increased levels of pollution.

I don’t know who comes up with these bright ideas but it would help if they could think them through in terms of the long-term consequences, instead of living in some sort of “Fairy Dairy Land,” to plagiarise the late Benny Hill.

Finally, has any thought been given to the dangers from flooding? Oxford and the surrounding area is very low lying, and it would, therefore, be interesting to know if there is risk of flooding with this development?

I. Ward-Brown, London