IN York we have been experiencing record breaking floods, but in future will they become just regular floods?

Whether or not global warming will mean we no longer have to holiday in the Mediterranean for that hot sunny holiday, it does seem to have made the weather pattern more extreme. Therefore, the existing investment in flood protection measures may no longer be sufficient, as hundred year events become the norm.

However, York's existing flood protection measures could be being undermined by the Ouse itself, through silting up. The shallowness of the stretch of river by the Museum Gardens and the sand bars in the area of the Ouse Bridge must be severely limiting the flow of water. These restrictions in the river channel hinders the rivers ability to get away the much larger flows of water occurring during times of flooding.

So, before raising the height of flood protection barriers, should we be first restoring the depth of the Ouse?

Richard Lamb,

Greystoke Road,

Rawcliffe, York.

... IN his letter Guy Wallbanks, of York and Ryedale Friends of the Earth, was too quick to turn the awful flooding to the advantage of his organisation (November 3). Part of the flooding may be due to global warming but nobody said that in 1982 when the floods were at similar levels.

The main cause of flooding in the city centre is the use of flood barriers beyond the city centre. When the flood-banks were constructed along the Ings, in Clifton and along the riverbank to the city centre, water that used to go on to the farms, playing fields and, sadly, streets that lie upstream is now forced out on to the streets in the city centre.

I have always feared that a flood the size of the one we experienced in 1982 would move from Clifton to Clifford's Tower. I was there in 1982 - I only wish I could have been in York in 2000 when you showed the country the resolve and spirit of the people of York. But on this occasion your resolve and spirit was not against an act of God but an act of bad planning.

George Davidson,

Park Street,

Slough.

...WHILE I have no doubt that Guy Wallbanks means well and accept that most people would agree with his sentiments, I still think his argument is a little naive.

Looking back over the past 100 years, it seems to me that blaming the motorist for the worlds ills is simplistic.

Just think of the number of bombs that have been exploded, the nuclear testing in various parts of the world (these alone must have shaken the planet to its core), the natural disasters at sea causing untold pollution, the damage to the atmosphere when the Iraqis set fire to the Saudi Arabian oilfields, not to mention the destruction of the rain forests, rockets blasting into space and aircraft polluting the atmosphere so much nearer to the ozone layer than the M1.

Yes, the planet is in dire straits and something needs to be done but if the only solution anybody can come up with is to tax the British motorist to death, then don't hold your breath for any improvement to the environment.

Tony Taylor,

Grassholme,

Woodthorpe, York.