IT IS a great disappointment that the familiar critics of our Derwenthorpe plan continue to portray the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's genuine determination to minimise any unwelcome environmental impact from the development in the most negative light possible. We intend to provide up to 20 acres of "green" areas at Derwenthorpe, including extensive tree planting, new footpaths and enhanced cycle ways.

This will provide an amenity, not just for new residents, but for those living nearby.

We are also ensuring that the amount of land around York where special grasses and plants flourish remains constant, by allocating some 15 acres of farmland we own to protect it from use of fertilisers or weed killers. This goes well beyond any formal obligation on environmental mitigation and protection.

We have, likewise, amended our plans to achieve an improved habitat for great crested newts, even though our thorough survey by an independent expert indicated that the two females located this spring had not been present during the survey period.

Nobody is being "cheated" by our proposals to build a new community at Derwenthorpe that will meet exceptionally high standards. However, those people in York who are badly affected by housing shortages and lack of affordable homes may well feel betrayed if serious efforts to tackle the city's shortage of homes are misrepresented by those who oppose them.

Nigel Ingram,

Director of Development & Property Services,

Joseph Rowntree Foundation,

The Homestead,

Water End,

York.

Updated: 09:36 Saturday, October 02, 2004