Insider

And yet Oxfordshire County Council leader Keith Mitchell who has resisted all moves for housebuilding in the Green Belt on the edge of Oxford, said building more homes would not make a difference.

So what do economists and experts put the price explosion down to?

That's right, supply and demand. That is, there is more demand than supply.

In other words - and in language simple to understand - build more homes. Now.

Monday's showdown meeting between pensioners who use Peers Sports Centre and city councillors could be interesting - and expensive, if they ever get there that is.

Members of the Town Hall's decision-making executive committee are likely to sound the death knell on the ageing facility as the city looks to the future and a likely city academy on the site.

he meeting starts at 9am - but OAPs cannot use their bus passes until after then and have asked for the item to be delayed so they can travel to the city centre free.

Talk about pushing your luck.

Susanna Pressel's reputation for always trying to have the last word precedes her, it would appear.

At a recent committee meeting the city councillor indicated she wanted to speak on a matter that had already dragged on for long enough.

And chairman Sid Phelps had her number.

He said: "Susanna, you have a reputation - so if you could keep it brief..."

Seizing on the Tories' continuing poor run of form, Labour city councillor and gay rights activist Antonia Bance has penned an open letter to local Conservatives.

And it's sure to irk them.

Part of it reads: "I see your party's leader, Mr Cameron, has accepted inequality between the rich and the poor matters.

"Mr Cameron (thankfully) doesn't have any power to put his proposals into action.

"But you do, running schools, youth services, Sure Starts and social care services for our city.

"Perhaps, following Mr Cameron's lead, you could take some action to start implementing the vision: withdrawing the threat to funding for the advice centres on Blackbird Leys and Rose Hill, for example.

"Or even just making sure someone from the county council turns up at meetings of the regeneration partnership on Rose Hill, like all the other agencies do."