His Dark Materials author Philip Pullman has warned that encroaching development is threatening the existence of the Oxford that he loves. Continuing his campaign to save the Jericho boatyard in the city, Pullman attended a ceremony to rename a protestor’s boat “Lyra’s Defiance”. Speaking of the plans for redevelopment at the boatyard, Pullman remarked that, “Unfortunately I do think it is symptomatic of how Oxford as a whole is changing. The way the developers want to work is to make it like every other place in the world because it is cheaper and easier and quicker to build that way. But it is wrong for the face of Oxford, and it is wrong for the character of human beings. It must be resisted – and we will resist.” Read more.