I have recently joined with my neighbours to stop Holgate Community Garden being destroyed to make way for a road to service the proposed York Central development. So I was interested to read the assurance given by City and Environmental Services Director Neil Ferris that no decision has been taken by City of York Council about the route of an access road to the York Central site (Bulldozing of community garden ‘not a done deal’, September 24).

Mr Ferris must be aware that his assurance will give the impression that fears for the future of the garden are ill-founded and that further public consultation will be meaningful; but his words run counter to public pronouncements made by other council employees.

I attended several of the Local Plan presentations held around the city over the summer, and asked council officers direct questions about how the York Central plan could be viable without a means of access to the site.

I was told that “the route has been decided, we know where it’s going to be and the funds have been set aside for the bridge”. Did Mr Ferris simply mean that he can’t yet say in public what his colleagues already know will be proposed because the council has promised some more “public consultation”?

Mr Chris Barrett, St Paul’s Terrace, Holgate, York

Despite Mr Ferris’ repeated claims that “no decision has yet been made” regarding the access road in to York Central, developments for the Chancery Rise access route are alarmingly advanced. Demolition permission for Alliance House and Holgate Works has already been granted with explicit reasons to “facilitate a new road”. When residents ask the council about this demolition, they insist that this was submitted by Network Rail. However within the December 2015 Executive “demolition of buildings on the route of the access road” is listed as an objective by the council.

An agreement between Network Rail and City of York Council swapping council-owned wasteland for the old rail-works site “on which the potential access road will be built” has taken place. This strategic move seems to have rendered less impacting access options financially unviable. All has been decided ahead of planning permission and public consultation taking place. We have requested meeting minutes from the council regarding this transaction, only to be told that no minutes exist. Surely some form of paper-trail would exist for an agreement this important?

As a neighbourhood we are increasingly frustrated with this lack of clarity, especially regarding developments that stand to destroy our local community.

Benjamin Hall,

Friends of Holgate Community Garden,

Cleveland Street, York