INITIAL plans for Hungate were unveiled today, and they will raise eyebrows nearly as high as the proposed development. Talk of 720 homes being built on the ten acre site, some in blocks seven storeys high, will cause widespread concern.

There are two separate, but connected, issues. First is the density of housing. No one doubts the urgent need for new homes in York, and more than 700 could help to ease that pressure.

That will only happen if a substantial number are affordable. Those in the happy financial position to buy so-called luxury or executive apartments can choose from any number of new builds in York. Local people priced out by the property market must be the city council's priority.

Even then, the council should question the sheer number of homes proposed. Can the area truly sustain this volume of housing without being overdeveloped to the detriment both of York's appearance and the lifestyle of Hungate's future residents?

When building a large number of homes on a small site, the only way is up. And that is the direction developers Crosby Homes is going.

The height of some of the proposed buildings is the second issue today's disclosure raises. This is a sensitive business in York, which has traditionally - and rightly - kept tall buildings to a minimum. It is not New York after all, but a compact, medieval city which has always conserved the majestic dominance of the Minster.

Scale is crucial. Some big buildings, the railway headquarters and the Norwich Union offices for example, work because of their location.

But the council threw out a plan for five-storey flats on Skeldergate on the unarguable grounds that they would have eclipsed neighbouring properties. And we hesitate to mention Stonebow House.

Crosby Homes has a good record of consulting residents on the Hungate development. We hope the firm continues to listen now its plans are on the drawing board.

Updated: 13:26 Wednesday, November 06, 2002