Sir – I have serious concerns regarding the seeming lack of genuine consultation on the Barton West development. The only visible method of consultation on the details of the scheme (the decision for the scheme to go ahead was taken a long time ago) is through a questionnaire distributed to residents in the immediate area (Barton, Northway, and a part of Headington).

The consultation events that have taken place are misnamed. No views of those attending have been recorded, and when asked how opinions are being recorded people have just been told to fill in the questionnaire!

One concern is that the questionnaire is written in a way that many residents will find hard to engage with. It does not ask simple clear questions, but each question has a long preamble. This “preamble “ goes on to in effect direct the person filling in the questionnaire to choose the council’s preferred answer to the question.

The area of most serious concern to me is the question number 7 on “Open space”. It asks the recipient to choose between keeping the existing Barton Nature Park which is “mainly scrub land” or having it built on and replaced by “a park along Bayswater Brook . . . this could “provide more valuable replacement habitats for plants and wildlife . . . as well as providing attractive open space.” This is in fact totally disingenuous.

Firstly, the nature park is highly valued (it is by an area of very intense housing hemmed in by the ring road), and well used by the local community, especially families. It is not scrub land. There are many mature trees planted by local schoolchildren 25 years ago.

Alan Foulkes, Oxford