WHAT is happening with Coppergate III?

You will remember that a Government inspector threw out the Coppergate II masterplan, drawn up by Land Securities and approved by City of York council. To have loads of unattractive shops so near to Clifford's Tower was an affront to the rich history of the area, the inspector ruled.

All the parties who had been at each others' throats about the development then decided to draw a line under the animosity. Conservation groups, residents, the council and the developer said they would work together to fashion something along the Foss of which York could be proud.

Together they were known as the Castle-Piccadilly reference group. The unwashed public were even allowed to contribute on an open day.

Out of these discussions emerged a new planning brief, which envisaged the car park being hidden underground, a civic open space, and fewer shops.

That was at the end of July, when it was said that the plan would go out to a public consultation lasting at least eight weeks.

Then silence. In the Diary in October, we quoted an insider's misgivings over the failure to publish the results of the public open day. Was this because a huge majority were in favour of open space between the Castle and the river, they asked?

More silence. Now our attention has been drawn to a magazine item, ominously headed "Coppergate row continues".

"The controversy surrounding York's hugely contentious Coppergate site looks set to flare up again," it states.

"York Council's efforts to broker a deal between the different groups over the site's future, allowing for a new development for landowner Land Securities, look set to come to nothing, according to a source close to the negotiations."

What sort of scurrilous rag was publishing this? None other than The Architects Journal.

Many of those involved in the negotiations are nonplussed by the assertion that their efforts have "come to nothing".

Does it herald yet another weary trudge back to the drawing board?

CONSIDERING High Street retailers complain that people aren't buying enough in the run-up to Christmas, Coppergate III strikes the Diary as surplus to requirements. We already have more than enough shops to meet demand.

And not all of those are making much of an effort. Some in York city centre have gone to far more trouble than others to look seasonal.

The most arresting display we have seen on our footslog around the footstreets belongs to the festively titled Snow Home on Gillygate.

Selling all sorts of designer furnishings and accessories, this store boasts a giant Subbuteo player in its main window. Fairy wings sprout from his back, and two piglets pose at its feet, one is silver, the other gold.

We haven't the foggiest what it all means, but its certainly a change from Santas and red-nosed ruminants.

OUR item on the latest changes to the Radio York schedule had immediate effect, we learn. On Saturday both Anna Wallace and Les Gunn's shows were replaced, seemingly at the last minute. And managing editor Matt Youdale went on air to explain the changes yesterday.

It is now up to the listeners to deliver their verdict. What do you think?

Updated: 08:36 Tuesday, December 20, 2005