I THANK those who replied to my letter ('Thatcher's legacy of spiralling house prices' June 6) and hope I can answer some of the questions posed.

Dave Berkeley asked about Marygate car park. This was originally allocated for housing in the first draft of the Local Plan.

As Mr Berkely states it met opposition, a petition with 19,000 signatures was submitted. The council decided to amend the draft Local Plan to omit this as housing allocation and suitable adjustments were made to provide housing elsewhere.

Concerning the parking issues raised by Mr Berkeley and Andy D'Agorne. As you will know a number of the car parks due for closure are not run by the council but by private companies, over which we have no control.

Parking has always been a contentious issue in York, but I believe that the success of the Park & Ride service, which we hope to expand soon with the opening of the Monks Cross site, will help to ease congestion and pollution in the city.

As a council we hope to build on alternative modes of transport for the people of York, ones that are already showing success.

Lastly, I turn to the Green Paper on planning guidance. Its main thrust is to involve the community more in the planning process, the way the council does through community planning on sites.

Tracey Simpson-Laing,

City of York Council spokesperson for planning and transport,

Carnot Street,

York.

Updated: 12:21 Saturday, June 22, 2002