Piccadilly option

However, I feel the local authority was always going to be very unlikely to choose this site because they will want to protect any future potential commercial development at Coppergate/Clifford's Tower.

After all, the shoppers with their

bags of cash aren't going to want to be reminded of public squalor amid their private affluence are they?

Of course, the other sites are all unsuitable - Union Terrace particularly. Imagine arriving in York by coach and the first thing you see is the hostel for the homeless. "Welcome to York" - I can see it now.

Yes, I know these unfortunate people have to live somewhere, but they had somewhere, until the developers moved in.

The Nunnery Lane site is unsuitable as there is a school nearby. While I acknowledge that not all homeless people have problems with drugs, some do, and these should be kept away from (at least in theory) innocent young minds.

An Arc Light at Marygate would potentially detract from the riverside walk.

In fact, two of the three car park sites could have a large negative impact on the city's vital tourist trade.

I admit that this is not an easy problem to resolve, but in developing the old Arc Light centre and keeping the new one away from Piccadilly, the city appears to be victimising its population (homed and homeless alike) to appease commercial interests. Now there's a change.

Dr Richard Greaves,

Morehall Close,

York.

Updated: 09:36 Tuesday, May 02, 2006