YORKIES should be disappointed with the spin from Professor Janet Ford ('York Central wouldn't work', March 9) on why York University has rejected York Central, and 15 other sites in the city, for its huge planned expansion. Instead it has gone for the easier option of greenfield land available from Lord Halifax.

Yet the greater disappointment should be with the complicity of the city's planners in all of this, in the absence of any properly-constituted local plan or green belt framework. The university's "main principles" for site selection referred to by Prof Ford make scant reference to benefits for our city and, perhaps after 40 years of the university being here, some critical examination of the town and gown relationship would now be very timely.

True world-class cities with world-class universities - Oxford, Cambridge, Dublin, Heidelberg, Salamanca to name a few - have their universities as a strong presence in their city centres, not stuck on a self-regarding suburban campus.

Don't the enviable examples of Oxford and Cambridge, in particular, give the lie to dubious arguments against "split sites"?

With the vision of the city's planners being what it is, there seems every danger of York Central being wasted in another tawdry mixture of modern housing and bleak commercial blocks.

Yet here is a potent developer on our doorstep capable of bringing a unified vision into the heart of York and with the potential to be an uplifting and civilising influence on the life of the city centre.

The university's expansion is, potentially, the biggest thing to happen to York for many years. Let's wish them luck with it, but also make sure the chance of it working in the true interests of this special city is not squandered.

David Gamston,

Fulfordgate, York

Updated: 09:33 Wednesday, March 16, 2005