I READ Friday's Evening Press (Village set to be given go-ahead, January 21) with dismay.

City of York Council is likely to approve the large housing development next to Osbaldwick. If so much land in the city weren't given over to luxury flats and other housing for the well-heeled, it wouldn't be necessary to destroy this important habitat.

What is the value of a place to live without its green spaces? These ancient fields have been so neglected, many people may think a housing project would at least tidy them up.

I virtually grew up in these fields in the Sixties and Seventies when they were still regularly grazed; playing in hedgerows and trees, skating in winter's icy furrows.

Recent floods saw the beck at Osbaldwick almost bursting its banks in the old village area. If such a large project goes ahead, the safeguards mentioned will not stop serious flooding, as these fields absorb a massive amount of water, particularly in winter.

As for 're-housing' the newts, this is totally against the spirit of the Wildlife and Countryside Act. Let us use Lottery funding or similar to re-create a green oasis the whole of York can be uplifted by.

Paul Judges,

The Rise, Leavening.

Updated: 09:44 Tuesday, January 25, 2005