AFTER attending a planning and transport meeting of City of York Council on April 7, at which time three of us spoke out on traffic issues in Osbaldwick, we wish to express our dismay at so-called local democracy.

After witnessing what can only be described as the outright rude treatment of a speaker from Muncastergate, we attempted in our three minutes to highlight that Osbaldwick Village is being used as an HGV short cut and is suffering from a saturation HGV bus 'service', together with increased traffic levels that the roads are not designed or wide enough to cope with.

We did expect some response or questions to the points we raised, especially with regard to footway overrun by HGVs and buses. But judging by the lack of sensible response, it appears that councillors are prepared to accept this situation.

York council is running a "Tell Ann" campaign inviting comments on transport issues.

Well, we told Ann but she wasn't listening. Indeed the consensus among councillors is to ignore safety issues and hope they will disappear.

Having challenged Ann Reid and Tracey Simpson-Laing, the transport spokeswomen, to see the situation in Osbaldwick first hand, and not surprisingly being ignored, we would now like to offer the same invitation to former Labour councillor Liz Edge.

Perhaps she could offer some common sense solutions; would she also like to act as a co-ordinator for other areas with similar problems?

Coun W Hall,

T Hughes,

O. Starzynski,

Yew Tree Mews,

Osbaldwick Village, York.

...Your news item "Derwenthorpe show of force" refers to residents' concerns about plans to build a 540-home housing estate on an important green corridor in their community. It misses the point, however, about the presence at the meeting of York Natural Environment Trust.

We attended to demonstrate that opposition to this scheme comes not just from local residents but has been there from the outset, from environmental organisations as varied as the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, Council For The Protection Of Rural England, Rambler's Association, English Nature and ourselves.

The Osbaldwick ridge and furrow wildflower meadows, with their associated magnificent hedgerows and abundant wildlife, are part of the last remaining four per cent of this precious resource, described even by City of York Council in its Biodiversity Action Plan as "..lowland Yorkshire's most threatened habitat".

The principle of a development which will destroy this habitat, therefore, has regional and national implications for protection of biodiversity.

For an influential body such as the Joseph Rowntree Foundation to promote house-building at the expense of environmental damage to so important a habitat and on this scale is bad enough.

But its unrepentant aim to make such destruction a "model for future developments elsewhere" rebuts all modern environmental thinking.

It is an anachronistic throwback to the Foundation's origins in 1904 and declares it to be an institutional threat to the natural environment and the many dedicated organisations seeking to protect it.

YNET's demand for a public inquiry therefore comes from a need to make the environmental case in a situation where it will be examined fully and impartially.

As the Coppergate Inquiry illustrated, in the face of institutional self interest this is the only way forward.

Barry Potter,

Vice Chairman,

York Natural Environment Trust,

Knapton Lane, York.

Updated: 11:32 Tuesday, May 04, 2004