MICHAEL Taylor clearly does not read, or trust, the Evening Press's own reporting if he genuinely believes the proposed Derwenthorpe site to be brownfield land (Letters, July 7).

I hope that when the last inch of England is concreted over, he and his ilk will realise - as they drown in floodwater and choke on their own exhaust fumes - that it is in the interest of human beings to conserve and respect the natural environment.

The reasons behind the "chronic housing shortage" are many and complex, but the situation will not be solved by rampant and uncontrolled development. Nor by short-termist reaction to a poorly analysed and possibly overstated demand taking precedence over more long-term strategy to manage resources and preserve the quality of living environment for all.

Government planning policy was summed up in a nutshell by John Prescott as "brownfield first, greenfield last". As such, the Osbaldwick site and others like it should be moved right to the bottom of the list of sites targeted for development in York.

Catherine Foster,

Osbaldwick Lane, York.

...PERHAPS Michael Taylor should get his facts right before putting pen to paper.

Firstly, the ecologist he refers to does not live in Meadlands, so no vested interest there.

Secondly, apart from the former grid site, the area in question is, and always has been, greenfield, ie meadowland. In 1993 York City Council described it as "unimproved agricultural land", so no brownfield site here.

It has also been proven that no greenfield site in the York area need be considered for development before 2011. Let us not forget the proposed 3,000 houses for the brownfield tear drop site.

The protests about the proposed development come not only from people who do not want the disturbance it will cause to the area, but also from many respected organisations that are concerned about the destruction of this ancient and abundant wildlife habitat.

If Mr Taylor wishes to contact the parish council, we will willingly give him a conducted tour of the area.

W Hall, Chairman,

Osbaldwick Parish Council,

The Village,

Osbaldwick, York.

...I CAN only assume the inaccurate nature of Mr Taylor's letter to be the result of too much Joseph Rowntree Housing Trust (JRHT) propaganda. Describing this site as brownfield leads me to believe that Mr Taylor has never seen it.

A tiny piece of this 50-acre site has a disused electricity sub-station but the vast majority is a green wedge into a built up area, comprising small fields of ancient "ridge and furrow" meadowland bounded by massive hedgerows teeming with wildlife.

City of York Council and JRHT have sought to hide the true ecological value and potential of this site. Protesters are attempting to expose the facts and also highlight the contradiction with accepted planning policy that encourages the use of brownfield land first.

It is hoped to have an open air public meeting on the site in late August when Mr Taylor would be most welcome to see this green oasis for himself.

M Warters,

Yew Tree Mews,

Osbaldwick,

York.

...I'M sorry but not surprised that the Derwenthorpe development is having newt problems, but the choice is not as stark as the headline to Michael Taylor's letter "People v newts".

Most construction professionals today try extremely hard to minimise any environmental damage and not just because the law says we must. But it is almost always possible to look after both people and newts.

The merits of the Joseph Rowntree Foundation's proposals are obvious to everyone except the Meadlands NIMBYs and a few amateur bunny huggers who claim to be environmentalists.

But what concerns me are the number of construction projects that are delayed, disrupted, suffer major cost increases or even cancelled because of the humble Great Crested Newt.

I have now practiced for over 30 years as a chartered civil engineer, in both the water supply and coal mining industry and have lost count of the number of delayed projects in which I have been involved.

Friends working in railways, highway building, industrial projects, dam engineering - all have a tale to tell about their experiences with newts!

It invites the question: if so many projects have to deal with newts, how come they are supposed to be so rare?

In reality, Great Crested Newts are clearly about as endangered as bluebottles.

Either the population has increased enormously since they were listed as a species in need of special protection or the listing was done on the basis of anecdote rather than proper survey work.

The DTI should really consider the significant cost to the national economy of this farcical situation and insist that English Nature gets their act together and removes the newt from their listings.

Martin Brumby,

East Parade,

York.

Updated: 09:55 Monday, July 12, 2004