Sir – The report from the planning officers, which recommends city councillors to approve the Dorset House planning application for 300 student units in Headington, is as clear as mud.

The planning decision, scheduled for March 31, should be postponed and the report handed back to planning officers for clarification.

The officers’ report needs to spell out the implications of recent policy changes which mean that students studying full-time at one of Oxford’s many private colleges are, like university students, eligible for purpose-built student accommodation.

Previously, a named university would enter into an agreement with the student housing operator which would allow the university to use all the bed spaces, and the university would also have a certain level of responsibility for the behaviour of their students. This arrangement appears to have ended and so new rules need to be drawn up.

We have seen that living in student accommodation is a popular option for the mainly international students, as since September, at least 140 students from such private colleges are housed at the recently opened Slade Park development in Headington.

We would like to know how are contentious issues such as noise nuisance and anti-social behaviour are going to be dealt with under the new arrangements.

Likewise we want to be informed how it can be ensured that the development will not lead to increased traffic and parking as it may be even more difficult to enforce the no student car policy due to the loss of the link with the named educational establishment. We urge the city council to adjourn the determination of this controversial application and address in a transparent way how the consequences of this wide reaching policy change will be implemented for this sensitively located Dorset House student housing site.

Sietske Boeles, Oxford