Peasholme Green Centre demolition move leads to protests (From York Press)

Peasholme Green Centre demolition move leads to protests

1:28pm Friday 28th May 2010 in

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So the city council’s excuse for destroying the Peasholme Green Centre is that they could find no sustainable future use for the building (Demolition day, The Press, May 26).

Well, here’s some – student bedsits (ie a small hall of residence, maybe for St John’s), a backpackers’ hostel, a small hotel, single person’s affordable flats.

I’m sure others could add to the list and all the above would bring in some income.

I would also remind the city council that it cost taxpayers’ money to build the centre not many years ago, so this is another pile of our cash wasted by the council, to add to that lost in the ongoing Barbican fiasco. Those involved should feel ashamed!

Lee Maloney, Millfield Avenue, York.

• As I write the Peasholme hostel is being smashed to pieces by a mechanical excavator, with no effort whatsoever being made to salvage the bricks or tiles or other valuable materials for re-use.

Not satisfied with overriding the wishes of many local people and groups who put forward credible temporary uses for this useful modern building erected with taxpayers money, the council now proceeds to have it flattened in the most crude and disrespectful manner possible.

Under the auspices of “sustainability” the council’s latest planning policies require any developer looking to clear a site for redevelopment to salvage, wherever possible, bricks, stone, tiles, timbers or whatever is available for use either on the same site itself or on another project elsewhere.

Of course it costs more money to carefully dismantle a building and arrange storage of materials than it does to just put a wrecking ball through the whole lot and send the crushed pieces to landfill; but the council, as usual, has one set of rules for itself and another set for the rest of us.

Matthew Laverack, Lord Mayor’s Walk, York.