How on earth can the city council spend £45,000 sending out notices about planning applications (Oxford Mail, March 21). The number of letters sent relates to a cost of nearly £3 per letter, which is horrendous and proves that the department responsible is not efficient.

Taking into account the cost of paper and envelopes (which when purchased in bulk only amounts to a few pence per letter), add postage and it appears that the raising of a computer based letter with overheads amounts to more than £2 per letter. In today’s computer age that is a high figure. The council operates inefficiently, and to cover up its own ineptitude balances the books with public service cuts.

Adrian Taylor, Thames Court, Eynsham