I write in response to Coun Waller's claims that the Lib-Dem council has improved the conditions of the street environment in the terraced areas of our city.

I would not for one moment claim that the hard-working operatives who do the work day in day out to try to clean up the city are not doing their jobs.

However, believe Coun Waller is blinded by the need to hit out and blame everyone but himself for the state of the terraced areas of this city.

On October 22 last year, I reported 16 issues to the council with regard to blocked gullies, dog faeces and rubbish strewn areas.

All of these were found in a 30-minute ward walk around a terraced area of Holgate.

It is Coun Waller's responsibility to make sure the streets are clean and gullies are kept clear, but if it wasn't for the regular ward walks of the Labour councillors, reporting the failures of the directorate under his care and ensuring the mess is duly cleaned up, they would be in a much worse state than they are.

Meanwhile, Coun Waller sits back and claims success, while some of the terraced areas continue to decline.

This council actually has a policy not to clean blocked gullies in the back lanes of terraced areas on a regular basis, but instead wait for a problem to arise.

That is ludicrous. The homes in question are in a high-risk flood area, yet seemingly the Lib-Dem council thinks that because it is a terraced area and not an affluent suburb, the blocked gullies and the threat of flooding in the back lanes due to heavy rain is less important.

Whether it be social housing, privately owned or privately rented, are all entitled to the same service from the council, and the sooner we ensure this happens the better.

Coun Sonja Crisp, Holgate ward, Emperors Wharf, Skeldergate, York.