Sir – Nobody can deny that Oxford needs more affordable housing, but that doesn’t mean that every square inch is ripe for development. Building in the wrong way in the wrong place harms communities (both human and other) today and for future generations.

All cities need a workable balance between buildings and green open space; this is true for Oxford as for anywhere else, and is achieved in the centre by the way gardens, meadows, and sports grounds owned by the colleges offset the city’s brick, stone, and concrete.

Further away, the need is the same; local reaction to various current proposals reflects the view in Defra’s recent White Paper that green spaces really do matter to the well-being of communities, and that we must, all of us must, address biodiversity loss, and step up efforts to protect our natural environment.

Most of us within range of the city council’s ‘Barton West’ development surely feel the same: that, yes, the city needs more houses, and yes, this can be achieved to the benefit of all if each area is allowed to retain the green spaces that contribute so much to community health and the natural environment.

In this context tacking on additional proposals such as Ruskin College’s plan for a high-density building project on fields within the ring-road is unacceptable: besides the impact on the conservation area of Old Headington, the damage that increased traffic would do to Northway and Headington means that anybody concerned with social wellbeing must dismiss it as a development too far.

V. Hurst, (On behalf of the Ruskin Fields Group), Old Headington