THE consultation that Mr Dixon Smith refers to (Letters, May 18) is being carried out to identify a site for the new A59 Park & Ride facility.

While Park & Ride sites are acceptable on greenbelt land, Liberal Democrats feel that use of such land for housing and employment should normally be a last resort.

That is why we are delighted that the meeting of the green belt working group on June 1 removed the threat of development (placed on it by the previous Labour administration) from 145 hectares of green belt land.

Instead we have identified brownfield land such as the York Central site which should be used to meet the development needs of our city before encroaching any further on to green fields.

Coun Ian Cuthbertson,

Spurr House,

Plainville Lane,

Wigginton, York.

Updated: 10:05 Tuesday, June 08, 2004