Sir, - Mr Tate's vituperative attack on Hambleton District Council (D&S, Oct 27) needs an answer. Mr Tate has been seeking planning permission for work on 33 Market Place, Thirsk for several months and has submitted various different planning applications to repair, to alter, to demolish and to rebuild and also to build more dwellings up the yard. As Mr Tate himself points out, this is a very dominant and important position in the Market Place and for that reason the planning applications cannot be determined overnight.

The district-wide local plan, which is formulated at the behest of the government, and was finally adopted in 1999, was the work of the planning department over several years. At each stage of its conception consultations took place with every public body and private individual who had any interest whatsoever in the plan and the future of the district and a lengthy public inquiry ensured that impartial and considered judgments were made where opinions had differed. The plan in its final version is the guide by which the planning department works.

Mr Tate's applications have still not been determined. This is because at every stage of each application the plans have been scrutinised and discussed by councillors, local and national civic advisory groups, members of the public and planning officers, in order to ensure that government guidelines and the provisions of the local plan are complied with. All of these people have a genuine desire not to see Thirsk's heritage lost, stolen or strayed. It is only by consultations of this kind that the district council can be satisfied that everyone has a chance to voice their opinion in the interests of Thirsk.

Thirsk Town Council does not always agree with the district council but we respect the methods by which the planning department works and in our view it is better to consider all aspects of planning applications rather than make hasty decisions which may be regretted later. If this means spending a year to determine the future of a building which may exist for the next hundred years or more, so be it. The time taken to decide on the fate of 33 Market Place is a measure of the importance attributed to the site by the councils.

Mrs FREDA M ROBERTS

Mayor of Thirsk

Stoneyborough Lane,

Thirsk.

Sir, - I am sorry that Mr Tate has chosen to express his views on the planning department in a letter to you (D&S, Oct 27)rather than to me; and his injudicious language does him little credit.

In one respect Mr Tate is correct and I agree that the site at 33 Market Place, Thirsk, is an important site and we are happy to support its redevelopment in principle.

It is, however, a prominent site at the heart of the conservation area and it is important to get the scheme right.

Far from the picture painted by Mr Tate, we do give help and advice to applicants in an effort to arrive at a scheme we can recommend to planning committee be granted planning permission.

In Mr Tate's case we could have determined the scheme earlier but the recommendation on the original scheme would have been one of refusal. The authority does not believe that a quick refusal is necessarily good service but our efforts to assist Mr Tate gain planning permission may yet prove to have been in vain, as there remain highway and design issues to be resolved.

This is less a matter of efficiency and more to do with a commitment to strive for the highest standards of design for the benefit of the whole community.

S W QUARTERMAIN

Director of Planning and

Environmental Services

Hambleton District Council,

Northallerton.

Just one night

Sir, - We hope we are not killjoys. We realise the excitement of bonfire night to children and adults alike. We enjoyed fireworks ourselves as children - on one night of the year. Nowadays the firework period is growing ever longer from well before Hallowe'en to well after Bonfire Night with the prospect this year (as last) of outbursts at new year.

We would like to voice our concern for the distress inflicted on nervous dogs and other animals who suffer disproportionate terror because of inexplicable, loud bangs.

We had planned a family celebration at a local hotel on Friday, October 27 (over a week before bonfire night) and had to cancel at the last minute because our elderly dog was put into a state of terror by fireworks during the course of the evening. Her distress was dreadful, with her vomiting, shaking and seeking places to escape from the noise. We were forced to give her a sedative, the effects of which only wore off in time for a repeat performance the following evening.

Is it too much to ask that fireworks be confined to the single night of celebration?

V M & B J BIDDISCOMBE

Eden Lane,

Gainford