DOES the Evening News Letters Editor know which end of Cripplegate is which?

Three photos to illustrate readers' letters have been published.

One was of the entrance on New/Hylton Roads, one was of the fountain and the other depicted the flower bed behind the entrance - all on the New Road side.

The proposed Tybridge parking extension is at the opposite end entirely on the lowest quality part of Cripplegate. There have been no photos of the two areas the council has grassed over and added to the park.

Why is this significant? Because the published photos suggest that the council intends to put a car park on the prime part where the 1992 Labour council planned a seven-acre supermarket.

Phillpott gives the game away by stating in his column that "The second war of Cripplegate is hotting up".

He tries to make the two proposals look the same when they are completely different.

The 1992 plan was an act of vandalism putting a supermarket on the greenest part of the historic park. The Plinkie proposals will extend the park's green area, secure funding for improved maintenance and make it safer in an area where there have been several assaults.

Your Thursday, January 20 editorial asked if Lottery funding drops out, why was my name still associated with the Tybridge car park? I repeatedly emphasised to the Evening News reporter that the council is determined to replace any lost Lottery money with council money.

I also corrected the inaccurate figure of 4 per cent of the park lost due to the Tybridge extension to the correct one of 1.5 per cent. In addition, I described the Hylton Road and staff car park extensions to Cripplegate and the Plinkie plan. Neither of these appeared in the Evening News reports. Nor did a letter I wrote.

Clearly the Letters Editor does not know which end of the park is which. He put photos of the wrong end deliberately to set up a controversial story. It sells newspapers.

I can well understand why people are concerned about the park when incomplete information, scary headlines and misleading photos provide a misleading picture.

Making sensible decisions about Worcester's parks needs a balanced and informed approach. Will we get it?

COUNCILLOR FRANCIS LANKESTER,

Cathedral Ward,

Worcester.

Pictures are chosen to illustrate a subject, not necessarily to make a point. And there is no need to sensationalise stories about Cripplegate Park - the issue has a momentum all of its own.