WHAT is it with all this residential development going on in and around York, and especially the one and two bedroom flats?

Typical is the planned construction in the very short stretch of Heworth Green between Monkbridge roundabout and Mill Lane of 575 homes, some three-storey town houses, and four office blocks of two storeys each.

This gross over-development for such a small, unique city spells disaster. Is there no end to this drip, drip, drip of the construction of flats etc, in and around York; what with the "Tear Drop", Osbaldwick, Germany Beck, Hungate, Fulford Road, Huntington, plus those already built in Layerthorpe, Fulford Road, Hull Road, Lawrence Street and Hallfield Road, just to mention a few?

Where will all those people work - not in York that's for sure. Does it accommodate families? Not many. What will it do for York? Very little. Will the city's services, including sewerage systems cope? It is extremely doubtful.

There are parts of York which would benefit from thoughtful quality development, not cramming in as many units as possible into a relatively small space. They will become the slums of the future, regardless of the so called "deluxe" terminology describing them at present.

Douglas Jones,

Villa Grove,

York.

Updated: 09:53 Wednesday, November 10, 2004