Huntington residents could be forgiven for thinking they have done something to upset City of York Council.

It remained a quiet community village when it was governed by Ryedale and North Yorkshire councils.

But these days, it seems that most of York's ambitious expansion plans are happening on their doorstep.

The parish council is already fighting plans for massive redevelopment in Huntington. Under the Local Plan, more than 100 acres of land is earmarked for housing and commercial development. Opponents claim this building programme would lead to an intolerable loss of green belt.

And now the parish is expected to host the city's professional football team too.

There are strong arguments for and against the scale of development proposed for Huntington. And these are being aired in a major consultation exercise which has seen more than 5,000 letters sent to local residents asking for their views.

However, the parish council says it has received no such consultation regarding York City's planned move to Huntington Stadium.

The city council and the football club insist they will be talking to all parties about the plans. But they were remiss not to have already contacted the parish council: as the body which represents local opinion, it should have been included from the outset.

Some have argued that the city council prefers to consult its ward committees on these sort of issues, but parish councils are grassroots democracy. They raise hundreds of thousands of pounds a year in taxation, and should remain key players in the planning process.

From the comments in our story today, Huntington residents are not against hosting York City. But they are worried that the local infrastructure will not cope.

These are concerns which should be discussed at the earliest opportunity.

We hope that the parish council can meet with club and city council representatives soon to begin the sort of dialogue which will help to keep Huntington residents on York City's side.

Updated: 10:22 Monday, April 21, 2003