SO, politics finally sticks its minuscule head above the parapet in the Arc Light homeless centre debate.

Councillor Ken King's "shocking" gagging allegations (give me a break) and, according to the chairman of the Clifton planning panel, naff-all from the Liberal Democrats (August 23).

Brilliant, absolutely brilliant! These are important contemporary issues and deserve to be addressed seriously.

The local residents need to have their very real concerns about matters of security confronted (24-hour on-site staffing, CCTV, local liaison committee etc) and the homeless, some of the most vulnerable people in our society, need courageous and intelligent politicians to start pulling their political weight.

I live in Heworth with my wife and baby and we too have concerns about crime, drugs and anti-social behaviour.

Heworth was, evidently, one of the sites proposed for the new Arc Light centre.

This well-managed, innovative project on my doorstep with hands-on accountability would not cause concern, whereas this unaccountable, obscure status quo does.

Steve Crowther,

Glen Avenue,

Heworth,

York.

Updated: 10:01 Monday, August 29, 2005