ONCE again we have Nigel Ingram of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation attempting to defend the foundation's discredited Derwenthorpe housing estate planning proposals using the same tired old rhetoric.

The best analogy I can draw, is that this proposed scheme is like a clapped out, rusty old car with no engine. While the JRF continue to spend money putting petrol in the tank, Mr Ingram sits behind the wheel frantically turning the key and nothing happens.

Even if you were to take your frustration out on the "car" in classic Basil Fawlty style it is still not going to move. Why? Because the whole potential scheme involving greenfield destruction, flooding risks, no suitable access roads and no regard to surrounding communities is inherently wrong.

Should the city council choose to move this "vehicle" using a breakdown truck, its only destination will be the dead end cul-de-sac of a public inquiry, where after a thorough examination it will surely end up in the scrapyard.

M Warters,

Yew Tree Mews,

Osbaldwick Village, York.

Updated: 11:24 Wednesday, October 06, 2004