Sir – In reply to the letter entitled City given wide berth (October 13), surely, when there is a brownfield site available such as the former BP oil terminal at Littlemore, it is in the council’s interests to compromise on affordable housing provision.

Socially, it is highly desirable for the site to be developed, instead of remaining an eyesore and delivery of some affordable housing is better than none.

Environmentally, cleaning up the contamination would be beneficial, plus the more sites like this that are developed, the less the open countryside of Oxfordshire will be at risk.

Economically, unblocking sites like this for development, stimulates the economy and provides homes for young working people within growing communities.

It is a perfect example of a site which would demonstrate how the Government’s proposed ‘presumption in favour of sustainable development’ could be used positively.

In fact, there are many infill opportunities in the towns and villages across the county but they go in the ‘too hard’ box, in favour of creating vast estates on open countryside, which are seen as ‘low hanging fruit’.

Many of these infill sites are not contaminated and have low infrastructure costs and so could deliver more affordable housing than the alternative vast estates.

These opportunities are usually ones that lead to betterment, rather than detriment. Brownfield developments must surely be pursued more vigorously than the ‘easier’ greenfield sites across the county.

The irony is that when district councils allocate strategic sites for housing, there is no guarantee on percentages of affordable housing. When it comes to full planning, the developer is allowed to provide less, as by that stage, meeting the housing target is dependent on delivery of that site. Why not be more flexible, therefore, with sites like the one at Littlemore?

Justine Garbutt, Alvescot