THE future of a former school should be settled in the public eye, say Liberal Democrat councillors.

Future options for land occupied by Shipton Street Infant School, York, which closed in July this year, will be discussed by the City of York Council's Labour executive tomorrow, in the Guildhall at 4pm.

Only at the meeting will it be decided if the discussions will be public or private.

But the Lib Dems say they are concerned the public could be left without the chance to comment on how they would like the land to be developed. The site is near to Bootham Crescent football ground where a planning application to develop housing has been submitted.

The Liberal Democrat leader, Steve Galloway, said: "Given the sensitivity of the planning situation in that part of the city, residents have a right to expect the council to conduct its own affairs in an open and transparent way.

"We believe that residents have the right to know what is going on and the opportunity to make their voices heard before decision are taken."

A council official said: "It's not unusual for items of a sensitive nature, which may contain sensitive commercial and financial information, to be discussed in private."

Updated: 16:19 Thursday, December 12, 2002