IN his letter of reply to Mr Dickinson (May 5) Mr Haswell seems to have misunderstood the purpose of our late licensing petition.

The wording is "No late licensing against the wishes of local residents" - not no late licensing in residential areas.

Local residents have been objecting to the granting of a late licence to Absolute Leisure at the Barbican through two hearings at the Magistrates' Court.

The second of these applications was withdrawn at short notice pending licensing powers moving from the magistrates to the council.

Residents in the Barbican area are concerned that the council may not be completely neutral in this matter, as they have a vested interest in granting the licence in order to push through the Barbican development.

The late licence will give the green light to Absolute Leisure to run night clubs if they wish to.

In any case it will increase traffic and pedestrian noise between midnight and 4am, when most residents would like to sleep.

We also wish to ensure that local residents in other areas of the city are well-informed of any late-licensing applications, and that where there are objections these are listened to.

P M Blanchard (petition organiser),

Heslington Road,

York.

Updated: 11:18 Monday, May 09, 2005