Now is the time to look ahead

The catastrophic tidal waves which have wreaked such devastation in South East Asia have helped put our own problems into perspective.

Nevertheless, for many of us, the New Year remains a time to take stock; to assess what happened in the old year and think about our hopes for the new. Here, a few well-known local figures do just that.

Godfrey Bloom, UKIP MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber

It's been a memorable year for Mr Bloom. Within hours of taking up his place on the European Parliament's Women's Rights Committee in July, he had caused howls of outrage by telling journalists "I just don't think they (women) clean behind the fridge enough". He later expanded, adding: "No self-respecting small businessman with half a brain would ever employ a lady of childbearing age."

His comments, he insists, were intended as a humorous way of highlighting the burden of red tape and PC legislation strangling small businesses. Despite the uproar, he says he has hugely enjoyed his first few months as an MEP. "It's been enormous fun. You can't come into politics and complain - you've got to take the rough with the smooth."

So what about his hopes for the New Year? He intends to make "plenty of trouble", the anti-Europe MEP promises. Top of his agenda will be to "consistently flag up just how much of people's ordinary, everyday lives are affected by legislation which comes from Brussels".

About 80 per cent of our laws here in Britain come from Brussels, he says. More broadly, he'd like to see less interference from Government in all our lives. "People are fed up of being over-governed. So could we have a moratorium over legislation from Westminster and Brussels? Twelve months with no more of it!"

Coun Janet Looker,Lord Mayor of York

York's first citizen had a good 2004 - she was, in fact, one of the Evening Press's Women of the Year. Her outspoken comments on development in the city - "It seems as if everything that stands still in York will be turned into flats" - won her many plaudits.

The Labour councillor admits she's "had a ball" as Lord Mayor. Internationally, however, 2004 was pretty grim, she says - with the ongoing troubles in Iraq and the Madrid bombings. "And it has ended with this terribly grim event (the Asian tsunami) which will take an awfully long time for people to get to grips with."

On the personal front, she admits that when her term of office ends in May the rest of the year will be a slight anti-climax. But she is looking forward to getting her teeth stuck into some proper politics again, and hopes York can make real progress towards a proper vision for future development - something desperately needed with York Central and Hungate coming up for development.

She feels pretty powerless about the international situation, however, except to hope we can all make a small difference by "very small, individual actions".

Graham Taylor, North Yorkshire vicar turned best-selling author

For him, 2004 was unbelievable, Graham admits. "Two US bestsellers (Shadowmancer and Wormwood) and an English bestseller - it was beyond my wildest dreams."

He hopes it will be more of the same this year. He is working on two more books - a sequel to Shadowmancer, featuring the original characters, and a new novel set in Scarborough's Grand Hotel. He is also hoping to write a play.

More broadly, he would like to see the back of the Labour Government - not necessarily because he is a supporter of the Tories or Lib Dems, but because he would like to see a more consensual government involving all parties as an alternative to the see-saw politics of the 20th century.

"I think the only way forward is to have some form of coalition government," he says.

"Why Tony Blair didn't appoint a war cabinet with members of all parties, I just cannot understand. It would have been far better. So I'd quite like to see a hung Parliament, a coalition of people coming together for the greater good of the country."

James Player, deputy chief officer, Age Concern York

For James, the Asian tsunami disaster has overshadowed 2004. All year with Age Concern he has been battling to end inequality, poverty and hardship for older people here - then at a stroke death and destruction came on a massive scale on the other side of the world. "It puts things in perspective. I think we need to think beyond our own nation a little bit more."

At home, older people in this country didn't do too badly out of 2004, he says. "They got a bit extra in terms of winter fuel payments."

But much remains to be done. "The most important thing is to see that older people get a fairer share of the nation's wealth, so that things like pensions are brought to a decent level, comparable to the standard of living of everyone else."

The best way to do that, he says, would be to scrap the over-complex system of means-tested benefits for older people and increase the basic state pension.

Steve Galloway, City of York Council leader

Cash problems, fury over parking charges, a damning report on the benefits service, a row over redevelopment of the Barbican - 2004 was a pretty tough year, wasn't it? Not at all, insists Steve Galloway.

The council improved its performance in all major areas such as education, social services and transport - and is getting to grips with benefits. "So I regard 2004 as very positive."

As for 2005 - there are lots of challenges to look forward to, he says. Royal Ascot; introduction of the new 'ftr' buses; the cost-saving relocation of council staff from smaller buildings into one or two main ones; the modernisation of the Barbican.

He hopes progress can also be made on the university's expansion plans, and on plans for York Central. More widely, he hopes there will be no repeat, anywhere in the world, of the Asian tsunami disaster. "And I do hope that locally and nationally people will perhaps be a bit less selfish and a bit more willing to help other people."

Sophie McGill, York City communications director

Mixed, is how Sophie describes the Minstermen's 2004. Yes, on the footballing front it was an "enormous disappointment" - City were relegated from the Football League after 75 years, and now face a relegation battle even to stay in the Conference. But there were successes, too - the club won their battle to stay at Bootham Crescent, and also revealed plans for an eventual move to a new 10,000 capacity all-seater stadium to be built somewhere in the city.

All that hard work to secure the club's ground and future only made relegation worse, however, Sophie admits. The first priority for 2005 is to ensure it doesn't happen again.

Already expectations for 2005 have had to be re-appraised. "Although we were relegated, everybody thought the new season would be a bit of a renaissance. Everybody was saying we've got to get in the play-offs. I would have to say now that it is about consolidating - avoiding relegation and trying to achieve the best we possibly can.

"We have to ensure whatever we have to do that we don't go down. It really would be the end of York City. It wouldn't be the end of York City football club, but the end of York City in its current professional form."

Mick Cook, head coach of York City Knights

Mick wasn't involved in the heartbreaking play-off final loss to Halifax in October, which saw the club condemned to another season in National League Two. But he knows how devastating it was for the players to throw away a 14-point lead with just ten minutes separating them from promotion.

Despite that setback, there were many positives for the Knights last season, he says. The task for 2005 is to build on that. Consistency will be the key. "We need to be strong right through the season. York had a bit of a blip last season, which cost four games." And ultimately, perhaps, first place and automatic promotion.

This year, Mick says, the aim will be to be fully prepared for each match. It will be a tough division, and there are no guarantees. "But we've got a healthy looking squad. We're looking to get our preparation right, get the results and make sure we don't have those blips."

Jeremy Jones, director of York Arc Light

The sad thing about 2004, Jeremy says, is that despite the work of various charities in helping to integrate homeless people back into society, there were just as many people on the streets at the end of the year as at the beginning. "The problem is still there."

There was good news for Arc Light, however. Earlier in the year ministers allocated £1.5m for a state-of-the-art centre for homeless people in York - and in December a further £1m was allocated.

The challenge for 2005 will be raising the rest of the money. "What we really need is about £4m," Jeremy says. The search will then be on for a place to build. "We want to find a proper location, and for people to accept that having a facility like this in your midst is not a threat, it is an opportunity."

If he had one wish for 2005, it would be this: "That everybody recognised that we are all equal on this earth, and all should have similar opportunities."

Updated: 09:36 Tuesday, January 04, 2005