Sir – It is scarcely believable that the county council plans to extend its budget by a £2.5m upgrade of the Iffley Road at the very time when it is proposing drastic cuts to the library services.
If Keith Mitchell wishes to retain any credibility he must cancel these roadworks. Contracts perhaps already signed cannot be an excuse, since the need for great financial stringency has long been obvious.
The only element of the works on which early action may be justified is the zebra crossing near SS Mary and John School.
The proposed complete resurfacing of the road is hardly urgent and the minuscule gain in safety from the 16 raised crossings cannot justify their early implementation.
On the other hand, among the proposed library economies, the merger of the Oxfordshire Studies Library with the Record Office has not so far attracted the criticism it deserves.
Money needs saving in the short term, yet this merger would yield only long-term savings, while incurring considerable short-term costs in adapting and extending the Record Office at the outer end of the Cowley Road to accommodate the resources currently on the top floor of the Central Library — where they are admirably arranged and accessible to the growing numbers of people researching local and family history. On the libraries more generally, will Keith Mitchell promise that when the deficit-related stringency has passed, most, at least, of the closures will be reversed?
Edmund Gray, Iffley
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