NHS Property Services has made a massive mistake and done a great dis-service to the residents of York in selling the Bootham Park Hospital site to ERL.

This was a fantastic one-off chance to do something really useful and secure this site for future expansion of the York District Hospital.

The Bootham Park site is perfectly situated for this. The past 12 months have shown how, under the pressure of Covid 19, the hospital struggled to cope with the facilities it has.

In the not-too-distant future there will be many more major housing developments in York, including York Central (2,500 homes), Hungate (200), British Sugar (1,100) the Civil Service site (266), Nestlé South (425) and the new proposed ‘ Cliftongate’ (3,000). All these extra dwellings will have people to go with them. But there is no mention of the extra strain this will put on our already-stretched resources.

Where is the foresight for the wellbeing of the residents of York? Oh, sorry, ERL plan to open a cafe, pop-up outdoor cinema and temporary market...

This is an opportunity missed.

S.Maxwell, Garfield Terrace, York