Office compromise

We can see through Coun Blackie's insidious manoeuvring over the location of new offices and the £3m (my estimate) lined up from land and building sales in the town. This is yet another example of the shameful liquidation and gerrymandering of our resources.

Very soon he will be in charge of a worthless council. He has had no regard whatsoever for future council taxpayers and for the long term financial viability of our area. He is continuing to pulverise Richmond's position as the primary tourist and commercial centre of the area by removing 150 workers, by reducing available car spaces yet again and by effectively prohibiting coaches and their passengers.

Is it just Coun Blackie's repressed resentment of Richmond or is it simply these Conservatives' dislike of a group of Richmond councillors?

In order to facilitate a way forward, there are two critical issues which do not appear in the council's reports and I presume, therefore, have not been properly evaluated.

First, the use of external borrowing instead of selling land. The council is currently debt free. Obviously this option should have been fully and openly explored and debated well before now. Since 2004, councils have been able to decide their own levels of borrowing whilst still having regard to affordability etc.

This avenue would enable the controversial site(s) to remain in the council's ownership. Of course, borrowing would increase but the financing costs would be spread across all council taxpayers in Richmondshire.

Second, I see from the plans that 26 new dwellings, with potentially 80-100 residents, can be built on the Station Road site. As an alternative, there does not seem to be any insurmountable reasons why joined-up office space for 150 personnel, with dual-use car parking, could not be built on this site. Frenchgate House could be incorporated, if required.

An upgraded Swale House (just 40 metres away) could continue to provide the council chamber, meeting rooms and civic offices with ample space for storage and ancillary accommodation. New civic facilities like this are notoriously expensive to construct and furnish. With this major saving and with no land to buy I would expect the £4.5m for new offices for the Colburn site to fall dramatically.

Vitally, it keeps 150 people in new offices in the town, with the site still in public ownership and, using an innovative architect, car parking could even be increased.

Crucially, for either of these alternatives to work it would require compromise on all sides - councillors, planners, residents and council taxpayers.

RICHARD COLLIN

Pikepurse Lane,

Richmond.

Asset vigilance

Sir, - Richmondshire District Council has announced that the next meeting of the resources committee, to discuss the sale and development of York Square and Station Road car parks with the disposal of Swale House, Frenchgate House, 20 Frenchgate, 33 Frenchgate and Friars Wynd, is being postponed until May or June.

The very real public opposition to these plans means that they should be withdrawn permanently, but we are being dragged into an unseemly political game.

The Conservatives on the resources comittee - and both the chairman and vice-chairman (Couns Wendy Morton and John Blackie) are Conservatives - have finally understood the electoral damage, which this debate is causing them. By holding back the debate until after the elections on May 5, they hope to buy two clear years before the next set of elections in which to pass their unpopular measures and during that time they hope that public feeling will calm down.

They should be aware that the only way to move forward on this issue, now or in the future, is to listen to the hearts of the residents and to withdraw their proposals.

We, the residents, will continue to work with our experts, solicitors and barristers to clarify the legal position in relation to the current set of worthless proposals so that when the issue is brought to the fore again there will be no hope of a single clause getting through.

In the meantime all residents of Richmondshire should remain vigilant. Asset "management" can rear its ugly head at any time and could lead to land which we currently believe to be safe coming under threat again in the very near future. The only reason why the open spaces report is so conciliatory is because we all protested, and worked together, to save our shire.

Coun STUART PARSONS

Reeth Road,

Richmond.

The great sell-off

Sir, - For sale, Richmond. One exceedingly careless owner, or so it seems. What right has the Richmondshire District Council, to whom we pay our taxes, to sell our town. Really, it makes me sick.

Coun Blackie and his cohorts should be hung, drawn and quartered, and I would like to volunteer for the job. I am Richmond-born and bred and unlike so many of our district councillors I have always loved my home town. Who in blazes do they think they are then to sell our heritage?

We have a beautiful town which enjoys a rich history - are they jealous of this? The district council wishes to move to Colburn at a massive cost, but do they have to rape Richmond to do so? Will they try to sell the castle next, I am sure that if they could they would.

My heart goes out to anyone visiting Richmond who needs a toilet at short notice, as a 200-yard dash down King Street may be beyond them. We could lose our beautiful Friary Gardens, known by old locals as "Tittybottle Park", that would really be tragedy. People walk and sit there in their hundreds during the summer.

This is breaking my heart and doubtless the hearts of many Richmondians to see her treated with such scorn and contempt. Richmondshire is a name which is becoming a farce, perhaps in years to come they will change its name to Colburnshire.

Our council tax has risen again, for what? Are they to sell everything and then take even more from us? We have shop premises standing empty, the only takers seem to be charity shops which do not pay the same taxes as other businesses.

I close as one thoroughly disgusted Richmondian, who has several generations in the churchyard, I wish they could all come back and haunt Richmondshire District Council.

C Y WILCOX

High Riding,

Richmond.

Colburn move

Sir, - I am not surprised that there is a lot of potential protest at Richmondshire District Council meetings. After all, they are intending to or already have done the following:

1, Sell off Westfield and other green spaces; 2, sell off some of the car parks; 3, close town centre toilets; 4, move 300 wage-paying jobs to Colburn together with their spending potential. Richmond people are not stupid and can work out for themselves the economic and social effects on their town.

Presumably it is all done to finance the unwelcome move to Colburn and the completely unnecessary introduction of the one-way system to Richmond.

R MEDERER

Hermitage Court,

Richmond