I WOULD never for a moment suggest the stream of civic-minded people passing through Guildhall were motivated as much by the promise of a free mince pie and a cup of hot coffee as by the desire to contribute to the debate on the city's future.

It was purely a slip of the pen, I am sure, that resulted in the billboard outside on St Helen's Square apparently getting its priorities mixed up.

"Please come into the Guildhall," it greeted passers by. "Enjoy FREE refreshments - and find out about the future of York."

Mince pies or not, yesterday's Without Walls open day (it was being repeated today from 11am to 2pm) saw a steady stream of people coming and going. And as well as making copious use of the refreshments thoughtfully provided, they did indeed record their thoughts on the future shape of the city.

The Without Walls project is all about coming up with a vision for the kind of city we would like York to become. Do we want a tourist city with an emphasis on conservation and heritage? A thrusting, go-getting city that is leading the way in innovation and IT? The administrative capital of a European region? Or a sleepy suburb of Leeds?

To help people focus their thoughts, the Without Walls organisers had helpfully set out six themes: Opportunities For All; Learning; Culture And Leisure; Crime; Health and Environment and Transport.

Each theme had a table to itself in Guildhall's main hall, with a special book in which visitors could record their thoughts.

And as usual with an exercise such as this, those thoughts were many and varied. "Why hasn't York wised up to the Pink Pound?" one woman had written in the Culture And Leisure book. "There are plenty of us out there and there is nowhere for us to go. Is York ashamed of its gay and lesbian citizens?"

Over on the Crime table, someone had helpfully written: "I think the police need to be able to give corporal punishment," - adding in brackets, with a nice gesture towards political correctness, "within reason."

In the Opportunities For All book, one unemployed contributor drew attention to the unfairness of the way in which income support was docked if the recipient had to go into hospital. "It is not their fault that they are poorly," the anonymous writer justly concluded.

Mince pies aside, many of those who had taken the trouble to go into Guildhall and record their views agreed that the debate on the city's future was an important one - a valuable chance to express an opinion offered by the open days.

"I think this is a very good idea," said retired nurse Maureen Holder, from Poppleton.

"But I do think it is a pity that there are not more people coming in."

She said she would like to see more people being encouraged to live in the city centre so it could remain alive and vibrant in the evenings in the way Italian cities are.

"If you go to Siena in Italy, when the day ends, the city doesn't die." She would also like to see more bobbies on the beat. "But I'm not sure I agree with police being able to administer corporal punishment!"

Meanwhile, retired music teacher Monica Nelson lamented the trend for more and more business parks and shopping centres on the outskirts of York. Bigger was not necessarily better, she said. The beauty of York is that it is on a human scale. "People come to shop in York, not because it is like everywhere else, but because there are so many little shops all lit up. "

Updated: 11:40 Tuesday, December 17, 2002