I URGE councillors to take the bull by the horns and build a stadium for York FC as Hull have done.

Hull council had a windfall from Kingston Communications of £40 million; you can have yours from the sale of the Barbican to contractors. It is a prime site for houses and flats over-looking the Bar Walls and must be worth more than £30 million (December 27).

You could then buy Bootham Crescent as a compulsory purchase for a modest £1 million, or less, from Bootham Crescent Holdings and sell it on to Persimmon Homes for £5 million to £10 million.

A new, modest, stadium seating 15,000 could be built for both football and rugby (as Hull have done) with an auditorium for concerts and snooker plus a swimming pool. This would keep the uses of the Barbican and encompass it with the football/rugby clubs, and save running costs.

This could be built anywhere the council wants because you have the power to decide. My preference would be Clifton Moor with Park and Ride so that parking facilities would then be on site.

The Park and Ride would also serve the new centre, attracting people from a wider area and boosting the local economy.

Huntington Stadium, which would then be free, could be rented out to local schools and athletic clubs to use at a reasonable cost because they are all part of the York council area.

Let's be bold and go for it!

Ian Halliday,

Farmers Way,

Copmanthorpe, York.

...CHRIS Houseman's letter on the Barbican site redevelopment misses the point (December 30).

The council asked people what they wanted to happen at the Barbican and got a very clear reply - they want a new pool and the auditorium to remain open.

Now we're going to make sure that is what happens and the public get the improved facilities they deserve.

Demolishing the site in return for vague promises of new facilities on unknown sites with Lottery money that's drying up by the day is no way forward.

The district sports council has not been ignored, but I do not believe their idea is a good one.

Early this year we will be bringing forward clear and workable proposals for the site and giving everyone the chance to say what they think - York District Sports Council included.

Our aim is a first class new pool, an improved auditorium and a capital receipt that can be used to improve other city facilities.

We have always worked through consultation and partnership. Our city sport and active leisure partnership is a great example of this, drawing many organisations, including the sports council, into its action plan.

It is the envy of many a city. We will continue to work in this way to make sure the people of York get what they want from their facilities.

Coun Alan Jones,

Executive member for leisure and heritage,

City of York Council,

Guildhall, York.

...CHRIS Houseman will not be alone in wondering why the council has taken so long to publish options for the future of the Barbican.

The District Sports Council proposals should, of course, be considered against other options. However, we have been advised that its report makes flawed assumptions about attracting funding and the possibility of finding alternative, non-green belt, sites for sports buildings.

The residents of York should be asked to give their views on which of the viable options for the Barbican are best for the city. They should also be able to give a view on how other swimming and sports facilities can be modernised.

The district sports council has accepted an invitation to meet the City of York Council shadow executive this month to explain their proposals in detail.

Quentin Macdonald,

Shadow executive member for leisure and heritage, Guildhall, York.

...THE results of the city-wide consultation on the future of York's leisure centres (July 2000) clearly demonstrated the public's desire to maintain swimming provision on all three sites.

This reinforced the message of the 26,601-name petitions to save the Yearsley and Barbican pools as part of the hugely popular Evening Press Save Our Swim campaign.

York District Sports Council does not further the aims or benefits of community sport by disparaging this campaign, nor do they have the authority to overturn a democratic decision made two and a half years ago.

Fiona Evans,

Yearsley Pool Action Group

co-ordinator,

Whenby Grove,

Huntington, York.

Updated: 12:09 Wednesday, January 08, 2003