SIR, Stockham Farm and Crab Hill are in Grove, not Wantage, and, therefore, any proposed development should be considered with regard to existing plans for Grove, not Wantage.

Annexing a piece of a neighbouring settlement does not transform Wantage into a suitable place for large-scale development. Neither are these two plots suitable for development anyway, being prone to poor drainage and flooding, as well as being prime agricultural land, at a time when Britain is sliding further into dependence on importing food.

Concreting over farmland is another step towards turning that particular strategic nightmare into reality. There is plenty of land within Wantage to accommodate both current demand and projected population growth, if you care to look.

An alternative approach could be to go out and ask the people who live here what they want. I have been to a number of exhibitions masquerading as consultations, and am by no means the only one to see these merely as PR exercises where the flow of information is strictly one-way, and the concerns of local people are ignored.

I believe these views represent the majority of opinion among the ordinary folk of both Wantage and Grove. There is an unhealthy amount of cynicism about the place, and I would urge those in authority, rather than dismissing these concerns as inconvenient, or as a minority view, to consider their role in carrying out the wishes of the people.

Terry Knight, Grove Road, Wantage