MRS Hull (Letters, August 6 and 19) twice criticises the present trustees of Haxby Memorial Hall for failing to maintain existing facilities.

For several years now, expenditure has been outstripping income, and reserves for use on remedial projects are dwindling.

These reserves will be depleted within five years. Serious "proper" maintenance is outside the scope of the present trustees - not because of a lack of will, but because of a lack of significant reserve funding.

The consistent policy of the trust during the last five years has been to focus spending on those key elements which keep hall and house facilities on the right side of health and safety legislation.

This policy is the right one while the future of the hall remains undetermined.

Present trustees - who have voluntarily served the public of Haxby together for less than three years - "inherited" a set of facilities - hall, house, employee, customer-base, and business model - that have suffered neglect over a much longer period. It is therefore quite inappropriate and unacceptable for Mrs Hull to condemn this group.

Ring-fenced funds have been given generously by the local ward committee - to enable the Trustees to develop plans for a ward-wide community facility. They are working hard and honestly to achieve a comprehensive range of viable options.

Mrs Hull's protest group is prepared to tolerate only one option - thereby suppressing the prospect of an objective discussion of a number of possible options.

Stewart M Pearson,

Moor Lane,

Haxby,

York.

Updated: 11:33 Friday, August 26, 2005