PLANS to discuss the future of York's Foss Islands Road depot site in secret came under fire today.

Labour councillor Sandy Fraser attacked the ruling Liberal Democrat executive for considering a report detailing future plans for the site - and its replacement with a new depot in James Street - behind closed doors tomorrow.

Speaking on behalf of the Labour Shadow Executive, he said: "We are calling on the Lib Dems to take as much of the report in public as possible.

"There is some commercially sensitive information in the report, such as estimates of the value of the Foss Islands site, which we accept have to be kept for private discussion.

"But there is no reason why the plans for the new depot and other matters of principle should be kept from the public generally, and the press in particular."

He said he had protested at a council meeting recently about the amount of business the Lib Dems were conducting away from public scrutiny.

He said: "Here is yet another example, on a very important issue indeed, and on a matter in which there is sure to be a good degree of public interest.

"The irony is that one of the Lib Dem Executive Members, Coun Quentin Macdonald, is meant to be the council's information champion, promoting open government.

"However, he seems to spend his time making this administration as secretive as possible."

But Coun Macdonald angrily rounded on Coun Fraser today, insisting he was "deeply committed" to freedom of information and revealing that this was why he had become involved in politics in the first place.

He said the depot report had been taken in secret because there were great practical difficulties in extracting non-sensitive information from a document that was full of commercially sensitive numbers.

He said the Lib Dem administration was committed to open government, and that a report due out about the future of the De Grey Rooms would be a model for making as much information public as possible.

Updated: 13:26 Monday, November 22, 2004