Sir - The last edition of The Oxford Times made depressing reading. Page one reported the decision of our planning department to support the development of Warneford Field.

Perhaps they could explain why they produced their report without waiting for a response from the Environment Agency, why it failed to include residents', residents' associations' and environmental groups' representations and why it has chosen to completely ignore an alternative and viable solution put forward by the residents' associations.

Not to mention the obvious negative impact on an already overcrowded area (am I the only person to have noticed that the Marston Ferry Road is now at a standstill morning and evening since the opening of the additional facilities at the John Radcliffe?).

Instead they have based their support on the income that the NHS will derive from the sale. Quoted in your article, the junior health minister, Liam Byrne, considers the Warneford Meadow the NHS's sixth most valuable site' . . . Doesn't that give us a vital clue to the fact that the money is likely to find its way into a national pot to help a financially under-performing NHS. If the money is going to be used locally, why doesn't the NHS give that guarantee?

The affordable housing' element is a sweetener. How long will it be before this is sold to commuters who will benefit from the development's location near to the London coach stop and easy access to the A40, or to investment buyers who will then rent the properties out?

On page eight you report the council's investigation into the felling of willows on Osney Island. Another example of our council officers making bad decisions whilst completely ignoring the views of the residents of this city. Maybe they've forgotten who they serve.

Laura Hollitzer, Oxford