Is this a joke? An appallingly prejudicial questionnaire, received allegedly from the Lib Dems, asking the people of Fulford/Heslington to agree the council should grab even more of our now almost non-existent greenbelt in order to provide leisure facilities for young children and pensioners!

What a unique sense of timing to distribute such a document at the time these very groups are being deprived of the one social/leisure facility which brings quality to their lives.

Walmgate Stray has, for generations been a haven of quiet, safety and social gathering for local people. The council is about to destroy all that by splitting the Stray in two to give access to hordes of cyclists en route to the University.

The Stray has always been a friendly and relaxing place. For many pensioners, walking there was often the highlight of each day. Pre-school children were free to run around. They learnt communication skills and respect for both animal and plant-life. What both these groups value was that on Walmgate they felt safe. Soon, all that will be gone!

There is only one message the people of Fulford and surrounding areas want their councillors to hear: 'Enough. Leave us something and leave us alone'.

J M McAndrew,

Heslington Lane,

Fulford,

York.

...IN common with recent correspondents, I view with great dismay the despoliation of Walmgate Stray (Low Moor) as proposed by York Cycle Campaign.

In a 1968 publication, The Strays And Ways of York, the York Group for the Promotion of Planning drew attention to the importance of the York Strays and "to the need for vigilance with regard to their use and management".

The proposed cycle track, supported so forcibly by York Cycle Campaign's Anna Semlyen, will surely constitute an unwarranted encroachment on what the York Group for the Promotion of Planning called "this irreplaceable heritage of beautiful open space".

Ms. Semlyen suggests that the "new raised path will enhance the enjoyment of walkers". It will, on the contrary, be a concrete intrusion into what is essentially a rural landscape in the heart of York.

There is an existing route for cyclists from Heslington to the city centre via Fulford and the riverbank, along Love Lane and New Walk. Walkers, especially those with young children or dogs, already have to be wary of the dangers from cyclists while using this route.

Are we going to have to watch our backs on Low Moor as well?

A. Mitchell

Fulford Road,

York.

...IN its undue haste to push through plans for a cycle track across Low Moor/Walmgate Stray, the City of York Council would have us believe that an existing right of way runs broadly east- west across the Stray and that this is the path the track will follow.

Although very convenient, no signs of such a right of way is immediately or obviously visible on any recently-consulted detailed maps.

I wonder when and how the City of York Council managed to locate this hitherto unsuspected right of way?

Mrs P A Bone,

Danum Road,

Fulford,

York.

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