WHILE many may be enthusiastic about the announcement of a public inquiry into the proposed Derwenthorpe development for June 13, it is disappointing the Joseph Rowntree Foundation is still wasting its money pursuing the failed and discredited scheme.

The news comes on top of a recent announcement that another of the foundation's model developments, the prefabricated block of flats named the "Caspar apartments" in Leeds, built only five years ago, have just been condemned as unfit for human habitation due to serious defects which could cause the flimsy flats to blow away in a heavy gust of wind.

Something must have been lost in translation, for when the Japanese designers were told to build a "flagship" development it appears they took this quite literally.

I feel sorry for the residents who will lose their homes but, having seen how ugly those prefabricated flats are, I don't expect even they will miss them. Indeed, there is double cause for celebration as the structural defects which may cause them to blow away at any time will save the local authority from having to waste good money on dynamite.

The foundation should start sorting out the problem at New Earswick and its "Faulty Towers" development in Leeds before it creates new problems in Osbaldwick.

Staff at the foundation need to read Joseph Rowntree's will and their founding document, bring in some fresh blood and fresh ideas and start thinking about how their resources can be best used to tackle social problems, such as poverty, crime, drug use and alcoholism as Joseph Rowntree intended.

Adrian Wilson,

Grasmere Drive,

York.

Updated: 10:20 Thursday, January 12, 2006