I READ in the Evening Press about something called the St Mary's Abbey Precinct Project which would breathe new life into the Yorkshire Museum and Gardens - this under the direction, I believe of Ms Barnes (January 6).

This was to follow up on the various improvements made to York Art Gallery.

I saw Ms Barnes on television some months ago talking about the Museum Gardens scheme. I was quite horrified to hear that part of the idea was to pave with York stone the original vast area on which St Mary's Abbey once stood - which at present is a lovely area of well tended grass and which undoubtedly enhances the historical appearance and value of the famous ancient abbey ruin.

It would be totally valueless to cover that huge area of the park with stone, equally unaesthetic and it would certainly change the very nature of the ruin as it now stands.

There was also mention of cutting down trees in order to open up the park for tourists - another unfortunate idea because the site was originally given to the people of York to enjoy and not merely intended as another tourist attraction.

Tourists find the gardens for themselves regardless of the place being "tarted up" for their benefit.

Museum Gardens is already a beautiful landscaped yet seemingly natural park in the middle of the city - please leave it alone. If there are to be alterations, such as those presently implied, it should be the citizens of York who decide upon them and not any small organisation or separate individual.

Might not the plans of this questionable scheme - already in existence by the look of it - be opened up for the people of York to view and democratically vote upon?

Laurence Burt,

Marygate,

York.

Updated: 11:08 Friday, January 13, 2006