THE apartheid systems of traffic management proposed by City of York Council for Heslington Lane - rising bollard, or toll, or complete closure - have no place in a healthy, thriving community.

Even the council must see the lunacy of closing Heslington Lane. This would completely cut off any sensible access we have to our local shops (Broadway), supermarkets (Aldi and Iceland on Fulford Road), GP surgeries (Fulford Park and Wenlock Terrace), our secondary school (Fulford), friends etc.

I can only assume this option was proposed to make the rising bollard and toll options appear less unreasonable.

However, both those options depend on creating an artificial boundary between who is and is not "local". The proposed definitions of 'local' would severely affect our everyday life. People such as friends working locally, who pop round in their lunch hour, local trades people who drop in to do a job on the house, the local doctor who makes home visits would all be denied access (or free access) to Heslington Lane, and hence to us.

At the council display on April 13 it was clear that all the residents in the area have similar networks of local work, health, education, social and other contacts that straddle any definition of a "local" boundary.

The question is, do the traffic levels in Heslington Lane warrant any additional measures?

The council's analogies with central London congestion charging are clearly preposterous.

Twice a day, during morning and evening rush hours, there is a considerable volume of traffic which is impeded rather than assisted by the chicanes. At other times there is only a light amount of traffic.

Anneliese Emmans Dean,

Peel Close,

Heslington, York.

...DOES it ever occur to the worthies of our beloved city council that they may owe the residents of York more consideration than they seem to afford us?

As a Heslington resident I am appalled at the traffic calming measures suggested for Heslington Lane and I can see more of these schemes being proposed for other areas of York in the future.

It would make more sense to call a halt to a large proportion, if not all, of these large housing development plans in York to avoid more pressure on the saturated roads in and around the city.

Then maybe our quality of life would improve and we may change our opinion of the councillors who don't appear to work for the well-being of the citizens of the city.

S Horsley,

Westmoor Lane,

Heslington,

York.

Updated: 10:15 Monday, April 19, 2004