REVISED Government housing targets and the potential release of barracks sites for housing development is causing City of York Council to beaver away on an updated version of York’s Local Plan prior to a further public consultation.

Of particular public concern is the necessity to deal with the impact of any new housing proposals on infrastructure, services and in particular transport: a matter that has caused comment from many quarters.

As far as the Strensall barracks development is concerned, it is vital that both Strensall and Earswick parish councils focus on the traffic consequences.

More than 1,000 additional vehicles using an already overloaded Strensall Road to join a congested ring road at peak times is a recipe for gridlock and community disruption.

It is surely incumbent upon the two parish councils to work together to identify relief schemes that will divert traffic away from Strensall Road?

Yet I don’t see future traffic proposals on any local meeting agendas.

May I remind them both that the 2021 deadline for closing Strensall barracks is looming large and action is needed now.

One approach would be to rejuvenate a scheme already mooted by Strensall Parish Council that is geared to getting traffic onto the A64 Malton Road without using Strensall Road.

It involves a link road from the barracks to a widened Towthorpe Moor Lane, connecting with an upgraded Hazelbush junction onto the A64.

The scheme does seem to offer a viable solution.

It’s no time for procrastination or parochialism - there is everything to be gained from starting immediate local co-operation about a lengthy process that will need council support and Highways Agency approval.

Allan Charlesworth, Old Earswick