I WAS one of the Lib Dem councillors on Ryedale DC when it raised the money and supervised the development and building of the Ryedale Stadium and the planning of Waterworld, though construction was finished after it was transferred to York in 1996.

The whole Waterworld/Ryedale Stadium complex was paid for by Ryedale before transfer at a total cost of £7.8m.

As soon as York got it, they rubbished it and made it clear that they resented it because Ryedale had built it, not them.

They claimed they could not afford to run it and could not wait to hand the complex over to a private company who removed the much-used multi-purpose sports hall and made it a gym, despite huge public opposition.

The whole complex, which was state-of-the-art when it was built, was subjected to years of neglect and fell into the state it is now in.

That York has allowed the Waterworld complex to deteriorate so that it now needs to be demolished after 17 years is a dreadful indictment of the council.

Tony Fisher, West End, Strensall, York.