I am utterly dismayed to read about the proposal of a huge TV screen in the city centre (City to "splash" out on screen?, The Press, February 5).

What on earth has happened to good taste? Why would anyone even think of putting a hideous TV screen in such a lovely historical city as York?

Do we not have enough bombardment of TV channels, news and sports on our televisions, why do we need to have it when we are outside walking around York? Who are the people making these decisions? Are they just thinking of ways of making money?

I can't believe that anyone would agree to this, or agree to where they want to place it - in the square. And they are worried the trees might block the view - so the next thing the trees will come down.

After being overseas for many years I returned to York, as I have always seen it as a beautiful, lovely city. I am dismayed on my return to find that there are people willing to take away its uniqueness and make it just like any other city. This scheme is a disaster for York and it shows little taste.

Lynette Mills, Fishergate, York.


* So, City of York Council's latest creative, cutting edge, imaginative idea is to house a giant TV on the site of the "splash palace".

Why doesn't that surprise me? It's about as imaginative as they get. Here they have another opportunity to provide a lasting legacy (most probably their swan song as a council), and what do they come up with? Another example of bland, urban cloning - let's have one because Leeds has got one.

Do we really see ourselves as a smaller version of Leeds? Will Chester and Bath be clamouring for one?

No doubt, as per the Millennium Wheel, it will have to have a major sponsor's name plastered all over it. I can just imagine the scene, as England get knocked out of another football tournament - hordes of rampaging morons careering down Parliament Street and surrounding streets.

I hope councillors would think very seriously about the siting of any such facility. Parliament Street is far too enclosed an area. For big sporting events people need space to let off steam. If we had to have one, then Knavesmire or a similar open space would be preferable.

That said, I concede that for more cultural broadcasts, a city location would work better. Directly outside the Minster or within the Museum Gardens would strike me as more appropriate.

On balance, I'd far rather scrap the whole idea, and just ask councillors to come up with a more innovative option than that proposed for the Parliament Street site.

Give us something we can be really proud of, something of which we can boast to our friends around the UK, something no other city or small town has. Try and think "out of the box" (and I don't mean X-Box!), look to the cultural hotspots in Europe, not West Yorkshire, for a lead.

Graeme Rudd, Kerver Lane, Dunnington, York.