Sir – On Page 23 of last week’s Witney Gazette, the leader of Oxfordshire County Council, Ian Hudspeth, was warning the rising demand for social care would make it even harder for the council to balance the books next year.

On Page 2 he was trying to claw back £3.6m from the developers of Madley Park housing estate, which the council had failed to spend on the Shores Green interchange within the 10-year limit.

Who led the fight to resurrect the Cogges Link Road project that delayed the implementation of Shores Green? The same Mr Hudspeth.

Two years ago I warned in these columns that if he and the council didn’t pull their fingers out, they could be guilty of maladministration. That warning has even greater cogency now.

Letting 10 years elapse without claiming a sum large enough to lessen the misery of thousands of commuters is hardly an oversight.

Don Chapman, Newland Street, Eynsham