SO, Shipton Street School finally goes on the open market (January 17). For the thousands of us who opposed its use as a new location for the Arc Light Centre, this is the latest episode in a very long process.

No one denies the urgent need for affordable housing in this city. But why has the council not engaged in any serious consultation with residents in Clifton?

Even more incomprehensible is the ruling party's unwillingness to talk to the city councillors who represent this ward. Surely it can't be because they are from a different political party!

Elsewhere, Liberal Democrats seem happy to work with whichever party will help them hold the balance of power.

If, as seems the case here, the executive is happy to let the market decide, it calls into question the point of representative elections. Why not let the market decide everything. Replace the executive with a firm of accountants and see how we get on.

Might a better alternative use for this site be as a replacement for the Burton Stone Community Centre? The Evelyn Crescent centre has limited accommodation and must be near the end of its useful life.

The Shipton Street School site could be an ideal replacement, freeing up the Evelyn Crescent site for affordable housing in an area less congested with traffic.

The Shipton Street site could also be developed as a drop-in centre for older residents, perhaps with an integral Post Office, space for night classes, and day nursery spaces for local people or NHS workers at the hospital nearby.

I am not saying this is the only possible use for the site. But I would have liked our listening council to have talked to us first.

David Nicholson,

Grosvenor Terrace, York.

Updated: 11:15 Monday, January 23, 2006