A RECENT letter from Dr Mick Phythian reminds all of us that the proposals for the new local plan for York should cover not only the city itself but its rural hinterland too.

There is little sign of this so far in the draft documents, except for a brief reference to the fact that 83.5 per cent of the total authority area is “open countryside”, of which 4.5 per cent is to be set aside for possible built development in the future.

There is no recognition that the farming industry plays any part at all in our inclusive society. In an age when issues of food supply, threats to biodiversity and the effects of climate change are becoming of increasing concern, such an omission it to be deplored.

Focusing, as it does, solely on the opportunities for diversifying into non-farming ventures, the draft plan diverts attention from the real issue here, which is ensuring that agriculture remains a core rural activity and that members of the farming community have adequate representation when the authority’s policies are being determined.

The draft plan acknowledges that agricultural practice is changing, and trends are difficult to predict, but I suggest that that is no reason to marginalise the issue, and not to devise strategies which will support the farming community, rather than, as at present, propose policies which militate against its sustainable development.

Philip Crowe, Clifton, York.