Readers' letters

Martin Durham states that the proposed tennis and fitness centre on Hull Road would be "some 400 yards from the nearest house" (Letters, March 21).

Perhaps he did not attend the public meeting last week where we were told that the development would be 94 yards from the line of trees edging Windmill Lane.

The Woodlands Respite Home for multiple sclerosis sufferers would of course be even nearer than that, but perhaps Mr Durham doesn't count the home as a house.

Mr Durham's estimate that 90 per cent of sports activity will be indoors doesn't address the issue of the cars arriving and leaving all day, nor of the light pollution from outdoor floodlighting until 10pm.

When a group of us who live locally met together and agreed that we wish to oppose this development, we of course knew that people would call us 'NIMBYs'; it is after all an easy insult.

It does show, however, that the user hasn't really listened to our concerns.

Our argument is that this centre shouldn't be in anyone's back yard.

The arrival of an appropriately-sited Next Generation Club would certainly be excellent news for York, but it is wholly unsuitable for a congested residential area.

Jane Duke,

Windmill Lane,

York.

...The letter from Mr Durham contains a serious mis-statement of facts.

The plans can be measured with a scale rule, and when I did so I found that the distance from the boundary of the development to the nearest property on Windmill Lane is in fact 90 metres or 100 yards. Unfortunately, Mr Durham has misread the plan and he has exaggerated the distance to 400 per cent of its true figure.

Mr Durham's second serious error is to glibly float the term NIMBY, (Not In My Back Yard). This is particularly unjust in relation to the residents of the original houses on Windmill Lane who have just dealt constructively with the building of 76 new homes in their "back yard."

If Mr Durham had done more homework at the planning department he would have found that there is actually a council policy for St John's Field. This is in the council's Local Plan which says the area concerned is "open space" and it is not to be built upon.

As I understand it, Next Generation were refused planning permission at Monks Cross because they conflicted with the council's plan. It is not unreasonable for a resident of Windmill Lane and Hull Road to hope that the council will stick even more closely to its official policy in this case where the amenity of several hundred people would be severely affected.

Andrew Eccles,

Chartered Surveyor,

Windmill Lane,

Hull Road, York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.