Unfortunately Julia Gasper has got her facts mixed up about the former cricket pitch in Barton Road (Oxford Mail ViewPoints, January 4).

The sites and housing document approved for consultation by the city council on December 19 last year cannot “hand” any site to any developer, nor can it allow anyone to build.

Rather, it is a set of restrictions on what development is deemed acceptable in particular locations.

The document can be found online at oxford.gov.uk or can be consulted at the Town Hall (or if anyone wants a copy I will mail it to them).

In the case of the old cricket pitch, the document says that because of the history of the site, any development should include a greater proportion of open space than normal, with a contribution to sports and recreational facilities in the local area and because of the character of the area, it should be permanent residential accommodation, not a student hall.

Being fenced off to the public, it’s not much good to anyone at the moment – but without these policy restrictions an owner could (within reason) build anything they wanted.

The sites and housing document will be out for consultation over the next few months, before the council makes its final submission to the planning inspector.

I encourage residents who would like to express their views to write to the Planning Policy Team at Ramsay House, 10 St Ebbe’s Street, Oxford, OX1 1PT, or email comments to them at planningpolicy@oxford.gov.uk

MIKE ROWLEY, Barton and Sandhills Ward, Oxford City Council