THE Millennium Bridge itself was a project that arose from a community campaign, the design was shown to the local people for discussion and the particular design voted on. It is not surprising that the project has very widespread support.
In contrast, the ground works along both banks of the river have never been clearly explained to local people who had no direct input into those plans. As a consequence the works do not seem to have much relevance to the needs and aspirations of the local community.
The most perverse of the works are the large chunks of river bank that have been removed on the New Walk bank of the river. By removing parts of the bank the amenity value of strolling on the grass has been destroyed. Also, the 'scrapes' allow river water to flood the cycle path much more frequently.
This effectively removes the path as a route into the city far more often. More frequent flooding means more mud to deal with for pedestrians and a higher clean-up bill for the city council. All this work for no apparent benefit for the local people, and at a considerable cost.
The lesson here is clear: it is time that we moved away from the arrogance of 'experts' deciding what we need, to experts making their expertise available to projects guided by local people.
Adam Myers,
Alma Terrace,
York.
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