PAUL Cooper is right to ask what has happened to the public art scheme in memory of workers at the carriageworks (Letters, March 14).

Your recent articles about the plight of Thrall and the millions of pounds of public money spent on regenerating the former carriageworks site are also relevant. It is not just the memorial but all the other commitments that the York Regeneration Partnership made to the local community that we are still waiting to see happen.

There is the children's play area for the housing scheme on the site, a programme of public art, and the transformation of the canteen building and the land around the Fox pub into a 'neighbourhood site'.

At Community Regeneration York we are pressing for all of these ideas to be taken forward and we hope to see work on the memorial and all the rest of the community facilities later this year.

So don't despair, the memorial will be built. We are in discussions with City of York Council about bringing all these parts of the scheme together on to the neighbourhood site and we plan to convert the former canteen building to provide facilities for local people.

It is not the city council but Yorkshire Forward which is blocking our proposals. As ever it has its eye on the 'bigger picture', with the result that local communities are losing out to the interests of corporate deals.

Let's hope that the lessons are learned for the York Central and Hungate developments, where much is being made of 'community consultation' as plans are worked out. Consultation is all well and good but if all the promises made lead to nothing, the people of York will once again have had the wool pulled over their eyes.

Simon Brereton,

Manager,

Community Regeneration York,

Priory Street, York.

Updated: 10:53 Wednesday, March 27, 2002