DURHAM County Council’s plans, announced in January, for a business park to be created on the site of our County Hall will be no surprise to the people of this City, as this was predicted by myself and others when the council closed the nearby DLI Museum.

I am not against new jobs and if the general public had been informed from the beginning of the plans for that whole site, the majority would have been behind them, although I think they would have added the proviso that the museum would have to be re-established within walking distance of the city centre. What the ratepayers want to know now is where are the County Hall facilities going to be relocated to?

Why could they not have modernised the Old Shire Hall (a magnificent piece of architecture in my opinion) and worthy of being put to that use, or was it more important to have it turned into yet another hotel and eating establishment?

The Gentleman’s Club opposite could have been converted to a reduced County Hall – it covers three floors, or is it more important to have it converted into expensive apartments which will all need parking spaces?

We still have the Durham Baths site standing empty. Why not demolish and build something worthy of our great City?

Are we going back to the old days of using old offices ad hoc around the City, which is what happened before County Hall was built? That would be a backward step.

I cannot believe in this day and age we do not have people who want to make the best of our city – after all, isn’t it a World Heritage Site? Is there no one of vision for the future in the county council?

Mary Rowntree, Durham City.