YOUR correspondents G Flakes and M Glover (Letters, May 20) seem bitter that the Liberal Democrats worked so effectively to ensure the Barbican concert hall was modernised and reopened.

To do so without any taxpayer subsidy was a remarkable achievement.

Both they and your earlier correspondent, B Towner, seem to forget that by the end of the 1990s the Barbican complex was costing taxpayers £800,000 a year in subsidies. The swimming pool needed an investment of £3 million to sustain it for a few more years, while thanks to new health and safety legislation more than £1 million had to be spent upgrading the auditorium building.

It was the unanimous decision of the council in 2002 to sell the site, and by doing so inject private-sector capital into York’s ailing sports and leisure programme.

Subsequently, the successful company went into receivership so it was inevitable the building would be empty for a while.

It is fortunate that SMG – an experienced operator of concert venues across Europe – was willing to take on the building.

Simon Rodgers, Bishopfields Drive, Leeman Road, York.