AS a member of the planning committee, Councillor Quentin McDonald should have robustly defended an "internationally important civic space" and our historic city when it came to Coppergate II (Letters, May 7).
His reliance on the 1992 planning brief is unjustifiable since:
- It differed substantially from the Coppergate II proposal (the floorspace is now more than double, the footprint of the buildings is much greater, the buildings are significantly higher, there are now no cultural uses and the thrust of the current scheme is single use)
- Many years have elapsed during which great economic and social change has taken place
- The brief was only ever noticed, endorsed (and opposed) by relatively few individuals and could not obviate consideration of the full planning criteria.
Quentin singularly omits to mention the Coppergate design which has been the subject of much authoritative criticism - itself a clear basis for refusal of planning permission.
Whatever the outcome of the inquiry, I hope York exploits the potential to form a city piazza.
AM Sinclair,
St George's Place, York.
Updated: 11:21 Tuesday, May 27, 2003
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