Sir – For the second week running The Oxford Times has reported on major housing developments in West Oxford. Under the heading Student flats plan for West Oxford given the go-ahead (February 23) you report on the approval of 312 housing units.

Last week you reported on plans for 200 plus houses on the British Rail land near the station. Additionally, house building continues apace on the Lamarsh Road site.

In short West Oxford is growing. The evidence of over subscription at the local primary school is further evidence of this. I personally welcome these developments because it adds new blood to an ageing community.

Evidence of this is supplied by the last Oxford City Council demographic survey of the city. It revealed that West Oxford had the highest proportion of over-65s in the city.

Armed with all this evidence of growth and need our local GP service have blithely announced that they are leaving West Oxford, and moving two bus journeys away.

They claim that they have the support of the primary care trust, who have as their first written responsibility "representing the interests of local people”. Nobody from the trust has been anywhere near West Oxford and I can find no written record of them supporting the closure of our surgery.

Accordingly, I wrote to our MP on January 31 asking her to intervene and pointing out that the Localism Bill now approved by Parliament "gives local residents the power to instigate referendums on any local issue" I requested from her the procedure to establish a local referendum on this issue.

As I write (February 24) I have not received even an acknowledgement of my letter. So much for localism and so much for the controversial Health Bill which gives GPs more control over services. It is control we can do without in West Oxford.

John Power, Oxford