IT SEEMS likely that further decades will pass without our city having a local plan to inform long-term development. This demonstrates the repeated failure of party politics, and I mean all the parties.
With York split between an urban (Labour/Green) centre and a rural (Lib Dem/ Tory) outer, and given the reality of local elections every four years, this stalemate could continue for another 30 years. And we will all be the poorer.
Having witnessed all this from the inside as a city councillor in York, and having worked with politicians in many European cities, I have learned that successful cities are those with politicians who know when to park their differences in order to advance a viable strategy for their city’s future.
To finally make progress on a long-term plan, the parties must agree together a set of principles and ambitions (on development, environment, public transport, climate change, energy, etc) that can survive the election cycle.
This agreement must be signed by all parties, not just the ruling administration, and be revisited every four years to audit progress and drive further change.
Our city and our world needs politicians to see beyond coloured rosettes.
Christian Vassie, Blake Court, Wheldrake, York.
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