IT was good to see the elected members of the planning committee reject the development control officer's recommendations for the proposed development at Regency Mews, Dringhouses (September 10)

I hope the worthy Abbeyfield Society can find an amicable solution to their problems.

For some time the perception has been that the officers have been making the decisions, with the councillors just rubber-stamping them.

This decision is certainly a blow in favour of democracy.

The planning committee will soon be faced with a similar development decision close by at 26/28 Tadcaster Road, on the York side of the junction with St Helen's Road.

The proposal is to demolish two fine detached houses and a bungalow and replace them with two blocks of flats, 16 in all, three storeys high and all with ancillary blocks of garages.

This will destroy an orchard and wildlife, swamp nearby properties by its height and generate a large volume of traffic directly on to Tadcaster Road within yards of one of the busiest junctions in the city.

The proposal is contrary to every planning decision of recent years to decrease and remove traffic away from this junction.

I now feel more confident the planning councillors will exercise their good wisdom and sensibly arrive at the only feasible decision possible and reject the proposals in their present form.

David Evans,

Mayfield Grove,

Dringhouses, York.

Updated: 10:03 Thursday, September 16, 2004