WHY has City of York council ripped out the attractive hedges along the Ouse near Rowntree Park to replace them with a rather poor-looking fence?

I can understand that the hedge sometimes obscures the view of the river in the summer, but now the riverbank looks far less attractive because of it.

Could they not have just taken parts of the hedge away so some green remains for the benefit of people who like living things (including the wildlife)? I hope they are not planning to carry on uprooting the next section.

Has the council ever heard the phrase, if it's not broken, don't fix it?

Alan Flint,

Windmill Rise,

Holgate, York.

Updated: 11:00 Tuesday, March 09, 2004