Sir, – I thank Dave Morris, chairman of the Osmotherley village hall committee (D&S letters May 1), for confirming at least one of the rumours bouncing around the village, that a meeting of the village hall committee was held at which Coun Tim Swales as the Osmotherley Community Trust talked about the development of Osmotherley village, including a new village hall.

With such a radical proposal as building a new hall on a greenfield site adjacent to Oswaldene it is singularly curious that the village hall minutes report no reaction or comment by the committee.

There is little doubt that a cloak of secrecy surrounds the situation.

It is equally curious that the parish council is supporting the initiative for affordable housing and a public car park. The impression is given that there is significant support for affordable housing in the village (80 per cent) as determined by the parish plan. The parish plan is based upon data distilled from a voluntary questionnaire, the results of which are recorded in the fact book. Also recorded are individual comments and suggestions which range from the eminently sensible to the alarmingly eccentric (such as removing the long dead and converting the churchyard into a car park).

In answer to the question: “would you like to see extra housing in the village?”, out of 290 returns, 156 people said “No”, 89 people said “Yes”, which in a normal democracy is a “No” vote. A secondary question which states, “if pushed what form of housing would you like to see?”, opinions seemed to favour two- or threebedroomed detached “affordable houses to suit local needs”.

In summary, this seems to have been interpreted as significant support for “affordable” homes.

Is the community being pushed? If so by whom?

In direct opposition to the trust proposals. the fact book and the parish plan also contain support for preserving the views of Osmotherley, from both residents (253 out of 301) and visitors (34 out of 40) , with similar numbers in favour of preserving the views from Osmotherley, support for preserving the green fields within the current housing gaps, and support for both an extension to the cemetery and the development of a “green” burial site.

With regard to car parking, is it not likely that a car park will bring more visitors, might introduce problems not currently experienced, littering, vandalism, bikers, increased crime, etc and will not resolve the problem of residents’ car parking unless part of a more comprehensive traffic management scheme from the outset?.

BRIAN S LEE Clack Lane, Osmotherley.