Sir – Wouldn’t it be nice for Christ Church college, as a principal landowner in the parish of Brize Norton, after years of gleaning revenue from farmers and the piecemeal selling-off of pockets of land and buildings when the coffers were low, to have given something back to the parishioners?

Our village consists of 350 dwellings, 22 of which are listed buildings or monuments, St Britius Church being one of them.

Did the college, as patrons of the church, put their hands in your pockets and contribute to the funds needed for the total repair of the church roof?

Wouldn’t it be nice if, instead of the proposed housing development, you had given this land to the parishioners as a buffer, with the freedom to roam?

This would then halt the erosion of our diminishing parish boundaries by Carterton’s urban development, which threatens to engulf our village.

Jean Butcher, Manor Road, Brize Norton