Sir, “Having made a mess of planning Wantage-Grove in the past by allowing appeals, the Department now has a duty to take action to help rectify the imbalance (housing/jobs/services).”

I first wrote those words 36 years ago but, unfortunately, they still apply to the current situation faced by our community now higher powers than our local authorities have, again, allowed virtually unlimited house building without accommodating the increased population’s inevitable demands upon practically every service.

My words of August 1978 were written after planners’ “consultations” led Wantage and Grove Councils, local organisations and residents, to believe they had made an excellent case for more jobs and services after appeals in 1967 and 1975 had resulted in large residential development without extra work opportunities or services.

The two communities had high hopes because Dr Thomas Sharp’s report, adopted by Berkshire County Council as the way forward, had said Wantage/Grove was the most suitable location for development, provided it became a balanced community and not a commuting dormitory.

Those hopes were reduced when Oxfordshire took a different view after local government re-organisation changed planning controllers. Labour minister Peter Shore destroyed them completely when he approved a three-man report saying “We do not believe that Wantage is a suitable location for substantial employment growth. It has neither good road connections nor rail facilities and it adjoins an area of outstanding beauty.” They said development allowed by the appeals seemed “unfortunate” in hindsight. It was the “only strong reason” for seeking employment growth and an attempt to balance it with population growth “is neither necessary nor desirable”.

My message then, as now: “We don’t want a mere existence as a dormitory for the workshops of surrounding towns; we want a community of vitality, life and a future here for our young people.”

Some hope!

Jack Loftin

Charlton Village

Wantage