GIL Nimmo (Letters, November 26) is right to assert that railway operations adjacent to residential areas should keep noise and disturbance to a minimum, and I would hope that the least obtrusive location possible may be chosen for the proposed train washing facility.

It may be the case that a site within the so called teardrop of railway land would have been preferable, although there may be good reasons preventing this.

Nevertheless, the fact remains that the Leeman Road area has a long history of railway operations, including maintenance depots, and it would be wrong to try and paint a picture of the area as some unspoilt idyll about to be wrecked by the coming of the railways.

Safeguards in the interests of local residents should be placed on the depot's operations. But surely a solution can be found that strikes a compromise, which is sympathetic to the wishes of residents while providing a facility which will bring an economic boost to the area.

Simon Bell,

Wheatsheaf Drive,

Ware,

Herts.

Updated: 09:58 Wednesday, December 01, 2004