I AGREE with previous correspondents who have questioned the wisdom of developing land which sits in flood plains such as the Germany Beck site in Fulford.

Recent floods have amply illustrated the associated risks to the local and wider community.

Until February this year, my mother, who is 100 years old, was resident at Fordlands Elderly Person’s Home run by City of York Council. In the summer of 2011, we were told that a review of the home was to be conducted, that Fordlands was to be closed and its residents relocated.

This decision caused the elderly residents, their families and carers a great deal of anxiety.

However, the council’s Cabinet agreed to fund, build and operate a new care home at Fordlands with a proposed opening in spring 2014.

Many of us were sceptical, being mindful of the Fordlands site and its proximity to Germany Beck.

Last Friday, I received a letter from the council informing us that surveying of the Fordlands site has revealed that it is “not a viable site for the type of care home needed by the city” – thanks to a combination of flooding risks, trees and bats.

Was it necessary to spend a considerable amount of taxpayers’ money attempting to justify the decision to reverse yet another proposal which impacts so obviously on its most vulnerable citizens?

Elizabeth A Rogers, Sutton-on-Derwent, York.