Sir – I am writing to voice my objection to the planning application by Crest Nicholson to build 1,000 homes on Alvescot Downs, to the west of Carterton.

As has already been made clear, this application is not welcomed by the majority of the residents of surrounding villages, any more than it is by many residents of Carterton, who see this proposal as nothing more than an avaricious and pernicious attack on their environment by an unnecessary and unsustainable development.

My home is in Clanfield, a village that suffered during the floods of July 2007 and, in spite of significant improvements to the watercourses in our area, we only narrowly escaped being flooded again this last winter.

This application to build 1,000 homes on Alvescot Downs will significantly increase the possibility of future flooding in our area, notwithstanding the developer’s dubious assurance that water management of the site will not increase the risk.

Their assessment was conducted during a dry period, they admit in a wet period the risks could be different.

This proposal is condemned with sound technical challenges by others better qualified than I however common sense surely dictates that the supply of new houses must be at an organic and sustainable rate, directly in proportion to the increase in jobs within an area and the thereby natural increase in population, neither of which are apparent in West Oxfordshire.

This scheme for 1,000 houses, together with other smaller schemes, could bring the possibility of an immediate increase of 2,000 new houses in the vicinity of Carterton.

If this proposal is allowed to proceed, it will be nothing more than an act of vandalism and a total disregard of the feelings of local people.

There is still time to object.

Brian Milton, Main Street, Clanfield