Sir – If Mr Skyte (Letters, January 21) took the trouble to read CPRE Oxfordshire and the Need not Greed coalition’s information, he would see that actually we share his concerns about affordable housing.

We do need more genuinely affordable houses, not just in Oxford but across the county. Government figures suggest that nationwide, only eight per cent of housing in rural areas is affordable, compared to 20 per cent in urban areas.

What we don’t need is the greed that means that Oxfordshire has been set on a massive growth agenda, which will increase our population at about three times the rate of overall UK population growth. Exactly how is that going to help provide more housing options for existing residents?

And we don’t need the greed that sees developments such as that approved for Carterton last week. This is a brownfield site which is well overdue for housing development, but the application approved is at low density and only provides 10 per cent affordable housing, due to the developers’ claims that they cannot do more.

The Need not Greed coalition is campaigning for a future for Oxfordshire which meets the real needs of local people not speculator greed.

A good start would be for our local councils to move away from behind-the-scenes agreement on a growth at all costs approach, and instead focus on genuine public engagement in preparing a sustainable development strategy for Oxfordshire.

Helen Marshall
CPRE Oxfordshire
Coalition member, Need not Greed