IF ever there was a case which illustrated the way in which party politics and local government don’t mix, it is surely the York Local Plan. For decades, York has been left without a coherent planning strategy, because successive regimes have failed to pilot through a plan. Each time we came close, progress was scuppered by party-political bickering and opposition foot-dragging.

At the heart of the problem has been political parties’ inability to agree on how many new homes York needs. The result: a lack of any clear guidance for developers - and so fewer new homes being built than even the lowest estimates suggest we need.

We’re in danger of the same thing happening again. The ruling Conservative/Liberal Democrat coalition claims it is on course to submit a plan for Government approval by next May. This plan would envisage 867 new homes being built in York each year. But Labour has now gone running to the Conservative communities secretary Sajid Javid, saying this is not enough - and that it falls far below the 1,070 new homes in York a year a new government formula seems to indicate would be required.

Precisely what Labour hopes to achieve isn’t clear. This seems like more of the posturing that has marred and hampered the whole process for so many years. But the result of these continuous delays could yet be that central government will impose a plan on York - presumably one including the higher housing figures, but without any of the local knowledge that will be so important.

Imposing a plan on the city would also set a dangerous precedent. It would signal to the world that on important issues York is not fit to govern itself. And if that is the case, what other decisions might be imposed upon us from the outside in future?