IN response to the chair of the Governors of St Peter's School (Letters, May 15), let me tell the Queen Anne story according to the facts.

The St Peter's bid of £4.8 million made on July 1, 2000, was not conditional upon the sale of or planning permission for the development of any other site. This is what we told local residents when we consulted them on the various bids for the Queen Anne site.

St Peter's then changed their mind and in a letter to the council, (December 6, 2000) linked the development of the Avenue site with their bid for the Queen Anne site. (St Peter's claimed that they had obtained legal advice not to enter into an unconditional offer for the Queen Anne site until planning consent had been gained for the Avenue site. I find it difficult to believe that they had not obtained legal advice before making their unconditional £4.8 million bid).

I took great exception to this linkage given what they had said before which we had passed on to local residents in good faith, and expressed my views in public at a council meeting. The school then, in a further letter to the council (January 31, 2001), stated that the offer to buy the Queen Anne site was again unconditional (presumably this followed more legal advice).

It is important to state that the council has always held that the sale of the Queen Anne site must not be linked with any planning consideration for the Avenue site. Throughout, we have been concerned to listen to the views of local residents and to take these into account both in the sale of the Queen Anne site and the planning applications for the Avenue site.

Residents wanted us to sell to St Peter's. We did so. Residents wanted us to reject the current application for the Avenue site. The integrity of the planning process was made clear when on May 10 it was unanimously rejected by the members of the planning committee

Coun R Hills,

City of York Council,

Huntington Road,

York.

Updated: 10:51 Thursday, May 24, 2001