SO residents near the proposed University campus expansion are to be allowed a say in how the subsequent explosion in traffic will be managed (March 4).

This is very much like a hangman offering a choice of knots to a condemned man.

The fact is, this is yet another over- development scheme having virtually no benefits to present York residents. Granted it will create jobs, mainly poorly paid menial jobs for York people, and yes it will give a boost to the buy-to-let sector as more students push up rents, and probably increase the pressure to build more housing.

This hardly compensates for the loss of more green fields, the increase in traffic and turning Heslington into little more than a university bank.

The real question York people should be asked is "do we want the university to carry on expanding?"

After all, do we want York University to rival Cambridge as the vivisection centre of the country?

Do we want acres of green fields concreted over so the university can offer such "vital" courses as drama?

M Warters,

Yew Tree Mews,

Osbaldwick, York.

Updated: 11:16 Wednesday, March 10, 2004