INSTEAD of pursuing the hopeless fantasy of "no parking" flats at York's Hungate to lessen their impact on traffic congestion in the area (March 19), why don't the powers-that-be just reduce the number of flats in the development?
Rather than piling 720 flats one on top of the other until the apartment blocks match the height of Rowntree Wharf, they could scale down the number of flats, make the blocks lower and build more houses with a bit of space around them instead.
The planning brief for the site originally envisaged 180 residential dwellings. The number shot up to 600 in the developers' first proposals and then increased again to the present 720 for the planning application last year.
You have to wonder why, since it is not likely many of the 720 flats will meet the housing needs of local people.
Instead of resorting to short-term incentives such as free bus passes and bikes to persuade potential new residents not to use a car, they should go back to the more sustainable guidelines of the planning brief and build more houses and fewer flats.
Alison Sinclair,
Norfolk Street, York.
Updated: 10:04 Tuesday, March 23, 2004
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