I CANNOT understand how any presumably university-educated person could come up with a design for the building featured on the front page of the Evening Press.(October 29).

It seems that someone gives names to such buildings, the Splash Palace in Parliament Street, the Prison car park in Piccadilly and the like.

Well, doesn't this building look like a stationary open top tram, and the buildings to the back look not much better than farm barns with a garage up-and-over door to the side of them?

Who are these people who are allowed to try and build such monstrosities? I have known councils condemn plans just because the roof tiles did not match the buildings next door.

It took us six months to get permission to paint our house rendering because the colour we chose would not match either house next door, we wanted magnolia, the council wanted honeysuckle. Spot the difference.

So why can't these people come up with a building that matches the surroundings? Better still, why have a building at all?

The open view we have of the tower and everything else would be better left as it is. It would be a lot nicer to build a park with trees and grass for the tourists and locals to enjoy. Why on earth do we need to build more shops?

We cannot fill the ones we already have. Everyone shops out of town now, don't they?

D & Mrs C Wardell,Malton Road, York.

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