Headingley stumped over improving parking

J BRITLAND’S letter (Yorkshire Post, October 28) shows that he has little knowledge of the situation at the Headingley Cricket Ground.

The reason the new blueprint includes no “mention of providing vastly improved car parking facilities” is that there is no room for expansion. The stadium is surrounded by residential property. Can Mr Britland suggest where these facilities might be situated?

With regard to the Durkar alternative proposed some years ago, the decision to abandon this scheme was forced on Yorkshire CCC by circumstances beyond their control.

Firstly the European Parliament altered what constituted a brown field site and Durkar no longer had this status. As a green field site, there was little chance of planning consent being granted.

Secondly, Mr Caddick, the then owner of the cricket stadium, demanded several million pounds from Yorkshire 
to release them from their long lease – money the club did not have.

Lastly, Wakefield Council, the proponents of the scheme, encountered some internal difficulties at the time which were well publicized.

If Mr Britland is a Yorkshire member, he will have received all this information at the time. Otherwise he could have read it in the local press.

While Yorkshire are not 
always above criticism both for their actions and their inaction, such criticism should be both fair and factual.