AFTER all the worries expressed by previous writers about proposed new developments in and around York, I have a simple solution: close down the council's planning department and give architects a free hand with a simple guideline that building height should not exceed that of any other in line of sight. Presumably, in York, that would be the Minster.

In Haxby, the Memorial Hall is causing controversy over possible demolition and replacement with a modern design. I quite like it, providing it meets the current fad for sound ecology.

If we had planning departments when most of our towns and villages originally developed over the centuries, just imagine how dull and drab everywhere would be with nobody taking chances with building design.

Bernard Lyne,

Usher Park Road,

Haxby,

York.

Updated: 09:23 Thursday, August 04, 2005