UNFORTUNATELY, it has been lumbered with one of those sleep-inducing New Labour titles: the local strategic partnership. But try not to let that put you off.

Its launch today could - and should - be the start of something important and exciting. This new group is charged with creating a vision for York that will shape the way the city develops for years.

A blueprint is certainly needed. York is at risk of becoming a victim of its own success.

Everywhere we look, old amenities are being torn down and new flats built in their place. Open space is under ever greater threat. York's manufacturing base erodes as Science City and tourism expand.

York is off and running. But only now the journey is well underway has it occurred to us that we are not sure where we are going.

The job of the local strategy partnership is to decide the city's direction. To fulfil its remit, it must decide what York wants to be.

The group must aim high, be bold. That is why its overall make up is disappointing. Every member has a distinguished track record in city leadership, yet the panel is far from representative of York as a whole. It is dominated by middle-aged men from the public sector. The omissions are glaring: no young people, no one from conservation or environment groups, no one from the tourist or leisure sectors.

Those on the panel are the same people who have already drawn up York's green belt and local transport plans, who sit on the safer city boards and health trusts. Can they tear their eyes away from this narrow perspective? Who will bring radical new ideas to the table?

Other voices are being sought. This newspaper is ready to help by prompting and publicising the debate.

However, those who dissent from the predetermined point of view should not be merely consulted, they should be invited to join the top table of decision makers. If this is to work, all visionaries must be made welcome.

Updated: 10:51 Wednesday, March 27, 2002