SIR – Recent planning decisions in our area have led me to doubt the competence of both planning officers and councillors. Three developments have been approved in an area already blighted by traffic. Despite considerable opposition, valid objections have been ignored.

Thus, I was pleased to read that councillors had rejected traffic-calming measures in the Nab Wood and Moorhead areas. However, the officer response was predictable. One accused the councillors of fundamentally misunderstanding the traffic problem, an example of the “we know better than you” attitude that is present in most planning recommendation documents.

This week, we have seen a further example of this where the planning officers have recommended acceptance of a new development off Micklethwaite Lane.

Local residents will tell you that it is unsuitable for existing traffic and is particularly hazardous to pedestrians, yet, despite this, the report states that “there is no objection in principle to this proposed development from a highway and pedestrian safety point of view”!

It begs the question, has the highways officer actually been to Micklethwaite Lane and why does he/she think he/she knows better than the rest of us who actually live here?

M Scott, Sleningford Rise, Crossflatts