HAS anyone noticed how similar many of the photos of York 100-plus years ago printed regularly in The Press are to the same streets today?

We have the same streets, even many of the same buildings.

The street plan of York was laid down when the fastest thing on the road was a horse, and the heaviest a haywain.

Yet politicians and planners think York can cope with thousands more homes and thousands more cars.

Remember the Northern Motorhome Show on Knavesmire and more recently the balloon festival?

Result: city-wide gridlock. Yet that’s the volume of traffic York will need to accommodate on a regular basis.

I was travelling on a Park&Ride bus during the year 2000 floods.

A man obviously in a position of authority was talking into his mobile phone.

I remember his words exactly. He said: “I need to be somewhat circumspect as I’m on public transport and I don’t want to cause panic.”

He then went on to make arrangements for transport and drivers to be on standby throughout the night in case riverside properties needed to be evacuated.

Fast forward to today: same streets, same river, same problems.

How many houses can you build on a floodplain?

What’s it to be, dreams or nightmares? Beware, they just might be the same thing.

Geoffrey Searstone,

Moor Lane, York