ENVIRONMENTALISTS in York have condemned a landmark report on the city's future, labelling it "fundamentally flawed" and "anachronistic".

York Environment Forum (YEF) has published its response to the keynote Future York report, which sought to chart the way ahead for the city's economy.

The report made a raft of recommendations, proposing that the city's economy would double within the next 20 years, and that the northern ring road should be dualled to help support such growth.

But YEF has now released a damning commentary on the report's findings, writing: "We have substantial concerns about the premises of the report, hold major reservations about many details and doubt the value of the consultation."

They say too many important parties - such as community groups, Rowntree Trusts and environmental agencies - were not consulted, and call for an alternative vision of the way forward for the city.

That should include, they say, a dramatic restoration of the city's natural environment; designation of York as a World Heritage site; measures to minimise the environmental impact of new developments; and actively deterring people from using their cars within the outer ring road. The Forum also attacked the report's focus on economic growth, and says there is no explanation of why the city's economy needs to double.

They wrote: "Huge expansion is taken as a given necessity and the impacts are then considered as matters to be managed, rather than being evaluated alongside the expansion to achieve a balanced strategic view."

YEF said Future York's arguments on transport were inadequate, and said dualling the northern ring road was illogical unless accompanied by unacceptably-massive development nearby.

They said green thinking could no longer be dismissed as the "eccentric concern of alternative lifestylers" and said Future York's neglect of an environmental approach rendered it "anachronistic."

The Future York reported was widely welcomed by the main political parties in York when it was published in June, who said it would be pivotal in helping take the city forward. It was instigated to assess the economic future of the city, following major job losses in 2006 at Nestlé, Norwich Union and British Sugar.