SEVERAL times recently council leader Steve Galloway has stated that the Barbican development is being thwarted by a "small" group of protesters.

As current chair of the Save Our Barbican campaign, may I say publicly how nice it is to receive the compliment. But to Coun Galloway I say: Consult not insult!

What Coun Galloway might have said is: "If I and my Lib Dem colleagues had not proposed or agreed to the gross intensification of the development, without consultation, in order to increase profits, then the Barbican scheme would now be well on the way to completion."

Coun Galloway is also on record as saying that the proceeds of the sell-off are now unlikely to achieve the stated aim of the plan, ie the building of a much smaller pool on the site and the modernisation of the Yearsley and Edmund Wilson pools.

If this is so then why on earth go ahead with the sell-off? Much better to wait until conditions improve.

As to the renting off of the Barbican Centre buildings, this remarkable business deal, £750,000 for a 250-year lease with no rent payable, is unlikely to go far in helping the council's pool refurbishment plan.

The proposed use of the Barbican buildings, licensed by this Lib Dem council, for late drinking with a capacity for nearly 4,000 persons, is in breach of the spirit of the new Licensing Act and a betrayal of residents who live close to the site.

This use of our Barbican will never be accepted by persons who live nearby and should all our efforts fail, I can reveal today that plans for a citizens' boycott of the "new Barbican" are well advanced.

Ernie Dickinson,

Anne Street,

York.

Updated: 11:09 Thursday, November 03, 2005