York is under starter's orders

IT MAY not be quite on the scale of what the Commonwealth Games did for Manchester, but make no mistake. Staging Royal Ascot, even for one year only, will be a massive boost to the economy of York. Gillian Cruddas of York Tourism Bureau can scarcely contain her delight. Already, she says, in the couple of days since the announcement was made on Saturday, the York Tourist Information Centre has been taking calls from racegoers eager to make sure they have their accommodation booked. And that's with Royal Ascot York still nearly two years away.

York's hotels and guesthouses will be filled to bursting throughout the five days of the meeting - so much so that many of the expected 300,000 or so racegoers are likely to have to find accommodation in towns and cities nearby. That is just one indicator of just how much of a boost to the city's economy the Ascot meeting will be: and not only in the short term.

"It's a fantastic opportunity," Gillian says. "Fantastic economically because of what it will bring to the city over those five days. But also fantastic in terms of the awareness of York that it will bring. It will put us on the map for years to come. It will give us publicity that we wouldn't be able to get in any other way."

There is no doubt that is true. Punters come from all over the globe for what is perhaps the world's most prestigious race meet, a chance to rub shoulders with royalty - Buckingham Palace today gave its strongest hint yet that the Queen would attend - and show off your fashion sense on the biggest stage of all.

TV images of York will be beamed around the world throughout the meeting - a perfect tonic for the slump in visitors from the United States in the wake of September 11 and the Gulf war.

In short, Gillian says, Royal Ascot York will be a "shop window for us in front of the whole world".

All the more important, therefore, that the city is looking at its very best during the course of those five days in June 2005.

Ensuring that it is is going to be a major undertaking, and one that will bring with it special challenges.

Before the Ecofin summit just over five years ago - when finance ministers from 15 European Union nations descended on York - thousands of pounds were spent on sprucing the city up to make sure it looked its best, not only for the ministers themselves but for the hundreds of foreign journalists who came with them. It was as a result of that summit that the Evening Press launched its Proud To Be York campaign, in an attempt to keep the city looking as good as it did then.

Inevitably, that didn't happen. In the years since, the old problems of litter, graffiti and less-than-sparkling public loos have reared their heads again.

In preparing for Royal Ascot, however, York will have a head start, insists city council leader Steve Galloway - thanks to his recently-launched York Pride initiative.

It is a multi-pronged campaign which aims to tackle not only the decline in the appearance of York's streets but also - working in partnership with police - the loutish behaviour and criminality that seem so often to go hand-in-hand with it.

There are a raft of police and council initiatives to achieve this - everything from high-visibility uniformed patrols in the shape of police community support officers and council 'street scene officers' (whose job is to patrol the city keeping a lookout for graffiti and litter) to schemes to provide more for the city's young people to do and so keep them out of trouble.

Royal Ascot York will bring the York Pride campaign into even sharper focus, and ensure it becomes even more of a priority than it already is. He will be hoping to see real improvements made to the appearance of the city by 2005, Coun Galloway says.

The council and police cannot do everything themselves, however. In the months and weeks running up to the York Ascot, he will be seeking to 'energise' business to do their part to brighten up the city - many neglected snickleways in the city which are not properly cleaned are in private ownership, for example, he says - and will be asking the people of York themselves to do their bit.

"We will want to get people to take more pride in and ownership of their streets," he says. "It would be unrealistic to think we were going to get everybody scrubbing their front doorstep every day. But it would not be unrealistic to hope, for example, that if people see footpaths covered in leaves, they might brush them down occasionally. Or if they see blocked gutters, at least report them to the council."

You'd be foolish to bet against the city being spick and span in time for Ascot 2005. Getting the city looking its best is one thing, however. Coping with such a massive influx of visitors - including royalty and VIPs - is quite another.

The last time there was such a huge influx of visitors to the city was perhaps on Bank Holiday Monday, May 31, 1982 - the day the Pope came to York. On that day, 210,000 people gathered at the Knavesmire, standing in 1,000-strong corrals, separated by crash barriers.

Over the five days of Ascot, the 250,000 to 300,000 visitors expected will at least be spread out over several days. But coping with them, and keeping the traffic flowing around York's already congested streets, will be a challenge, admits Insp Jim Geogheghan-Breen of York Police.

Nevertheless, it is one the city is ready for. When York first began to bid to stage the event, officers from the city visited Ascot to assess for themselves the scale of the event and see what problems there might be, he says.

Police are now working closely with the city council on a scheme to manage the extra traffic - with temporary Park and Ride sites looking likely in a bid to keep the city centre reasonably traffic-free and the streets at least moving.

Security will also be a major issue, Insp Geogheghan-Breen admits. As well as members of the Royal Family, it is likely there will be a number of high-ranking VIPs and diplomats attending the races. Given the scale of the event, it is highly likely that extra officers will be drafted in from surrounding police forces during the week of the meeting, he says.

Ordinary life of York will need to continue, however.

"This is a tremendous opportunity for York people, something that perhaps they will only see once in a lifetime," says Steve Galloway. "But there will still be those who are simply trying to go about their normal jobs. We must ensure that that can happen."

Either that or declare the whole week a public holiday in York. Any objections?

Updated: 10:30 Tuesday, August 12, 2003