COUNCIL tax rises and the quality of services provided by the council continue to fall.

Yet despite this the council propose to spend £2 million pounds on yet another bridge over the Ouse less than 300 yards from two other river crossings.

Who will use this bridge? Visitors to York approaching from the station will continue over Lendal Bridge and travel along Coney Street from one end to the other, and it will be a similar story from the Ouse Bridge end.

The council states that it may also be used by cyclists, surely this is encouraging even more cyclists to invade the so called pedestrian zone? Any new bridge in this area will also spoil the river view from either of the two existing bridges.

The main users of this new bridge will be railway and insurance office workers taking a short cut into town at lunchtime.

Is our council so intent on reaching the top of the league table in the country for support of pedestrians and cyclists they are prepared to spend a large amount on another white elephant?

AP Cox,

Heath Close,

Holgate, York.

...WHY do we need another footbridge across the river, where the only useful purpose it would serve would be to connect the bars in Coney Street to the bars in Rougier Street, thus creating a bottleneck for trouble?

This will require extra policing to stop clashes with late-night revellers and the possibility of people ending up in the river.

We have just had a big tax increase of 13 per cent. Why is this council contemplating spending £2 million of our tax on an unnecessary folly?

Alan J Parkin,

North Parade,

Bootham,

York.

Updated: 10:21 Tuesday, March 18, 2003