Readers' letters

Congratulations to the new fashion shop Mango in Coney Street. Obviously a great deal of thought and planning has gone into trying to attract the people of York to shopping in the city centre. In their wisdom shop bosses decided that I, an elderly person with a shopping trolley, younger disabled people and young mums with pushchairs were not going to be customers.

They have made access to the sales areas as difficult as possible. On entering, a large open space welcomes you (there was just one small rack with about a couple of dozen articles on it) and after that, immediately opposite the door, six to eight steps lead to the slightly higher level, flanked on either side by two more sets of steps to the slightly lower level. Not a ramp in sight.

I appreciate their thoughtfulness in deciding that it was not the shop for me, but I would rather have been given the opportunity of deciding it for myself as I am sure many others in a similar situation would.

Mrs J B Hearn,

St Aubyn's Place,

York.

...York council does not seem to have a coherent policy for its planners to follow. There are two issues I would like to take up with the council.

Firstly, the shop in Coney Street that has put up tasteful shutters to stop vandalism. The council wants them removed because they do not fit in with the street. Yet a little over a mile away at the entrance to the city is what must be the biggest eyesore. The boarded up monstrosity at the corner of Lawrence Street and Foss Island Road.

The owners of this property have been allowed to get away with doing nothing for years. Why?

Secondly, the planners have allowed the opening of a shop within yards of the disputed shutters that does not conform with disability rights legislation. No wheelchair-user can get further than the front door of the Mango store. How have the planners allowed this to happen?

Don Proud,

Curlew Glebe,

Dunnington,

York.

Converted for the new archive on 30 June 2000. Some images and formatting may have been lost in the conversion.