Having just taken part in yet another round of consultation on Castle Gateway (and seeing yet more post it notes attached to pictures of the site) I was intrigued by the input of the Museums Trust and their plans for an extension, a riverside walkway accessible 24 hours a day plus a proposal to knock a hole in the listed wall running round the castle yard to enable a view to the Eye of York.

In this day of trying to encourage river awareness and safety it would not seem a sensible to have such a secluded pathway alongside the river for every hour that passes.

When questioned about the hole in the wall the representative seemed to think that as the wall has been repaired over many years with different materials this devalued its status to virtually nil!

The most interesting fact was that, although extolling the virtues of extending the castle building, he could offer no idea as to the size, saying that nothing firm had been discussed.

All seemed to be made clearer in The Press article of July 25 about the financial pressures facing the Museums Trust, and the increases on admission fees - 50p on the Art Gallery and Yorkshire Museum but a £1 increase for the Castle Museum (always the ‘cash cow’ ) and scrapping of free admission for children who are not from York. To blame the inability to run a café in the Art Gallery, plus the Rose Theatre for this... well, no wonder the representative couldn’t give a positive answer. They have no idea.

Brian Watson,

Beckfield Lane, York