A Festival Of Ideas is being planned as part of nearly £13,000 approved in an effort to plan a future vision for York.

City of York Council agreed the cash as leader of a city partnership organising the Without Walls project, aimed at forming ideas of how the city should develop.

The festival would give easy access for everybody to have their say in forming the plan. Some of the cash would also be used to develop the Without Walls partnership.

The festival will feature a series of tailor made initiatives including:

- A people's panel involving city residents

- Involving the council's newspaper About York in publicising Without Walls

- Events with the council's network of ward committees which include local people in decision making

- An autumn conference

- An initiative in city schools to gather ideas from youngsters.

- Interviews from usually excluded groups including ethnic minorities and the disabled.

- A video scheme to allow residents to record their views on tape.

The proposals, considered by the council yesterday, started an argument about spending of council tax payers' money.

Liberal Democrat leader Councillor Steve Galloway said: "Some of these ideas are very imaginative, and some are unnecessary expense. I am very much in support of some of these ideas, but some of them I am not. If we have got this money, it should be spent out on the streets."

But Conservative leader Coun John Galvin said: "I am just getting a little weary of playing politics . We should go forward with this and do it properly, or we should say let's forget the whole lot."

The Liberal Democrats abstained in the vote on the spending, which was supported by Conservative and Labour members.

Updated: 10:16 Friday, April 18, 2003