YORK Tomorrow has put forward its proposals for the present castle car park to be turned into a public open space as a direct response to the expression of public opinion as revealed in your letters column and in your poll results.

One of the problems of the Coppergate saga has always been that no alternative to the massive shopping centre proposals has ever been put forward, and the public have been presented with an all-or-nothing proposition.

We believe there is an alternative, where Piccadilly is redeveloped and the castle area is enhanced by a parkland proposal such as we have put forward.

Our scheme is economical, easy realisable and maintainable, environmentally beneficial, and would incur no loss of revenue to the city, as our detailed parking study indicates.

We are already looking at possible sources of funding, including the viability of an application for Lottery support, as mentioned by one of your correspondents.

Our application for planning consent is a serious attempt to open out the debate on this contentious issue.

We would ask that those who support our argument write to the city's assistant director of planning and design putting forward their views.

These can then be put forward to the council.

Remember it is the elected councillors who will make the decision, not the officers of the council.

We trust that they will give our application the detailed consideration it merits.

Philip Crowe,

Chair,

York Tomorrow,

Stonegate,

York.