IT is good to see the Environment Agency is thinking ahead and making £1.7 million available to combat flooding in and around York (November 16).

Of particular interest was the fact that Clifton Ings can hold six million cubic metres of floodwater, and when allowed to flood, the river level drops by eight inches.

So if a large area of the Ings were excavated to a depth of, say, four feet and some of the spoil was used to build up the original river banking to form a freshwater lagoon, York's flooding problems would be greatly alleviated.

The agency would also be credited for scoring a double success, as the newly created lagoon could then be used as a water park or watersports centre, offering windsurfing, sailing and so on. This would be along the lines of Bosworth Water Trust in the Midlands or the council-run Pugneys Water Park in Wakefield.

A facility of this nature is desperately needed in this area and could be a money spinner for York council.

A more cost-effective way of creating such a facility would be to use the vagabonds and thieves on community service to carry out the donkey work. After eight hours of that sort of work they would be too exhausted to cause problems to anyone.

R Waite,

Windmill Rise,

Holgate, York.

Updated: 10:58 Tuesday, November 22, 2005