THE Diary was pleased to read that efforts are being made to drag the Bo Ding Warehouse out of dilapidation.

A report in Friday's Evening Press said that York council could take action to regain possession of the riverside pub and return it to an "acceptable state of repair".

The question is: what happens then?

Secret discussions held a year ago do not bode well. In July 2003 council officers recommended to a private meeting of the ruling executive that the Bonding Warehouse be sold for yet more flats.

The report, leaked to the Diary, noted that the historic council-owned building had not been occupied since the floods of 2000. It said tenants Lionel Davis and Keith Carby had let the Warehouse on a 50-year lease at a rent of £20,000 a year. Another 26 years of the lease was left.

The tenants were none-too-keen to repair it and start trading again and "were reluctant to make any future rental payments" because they couldn't get insurance.

Author of the report, senior council surveyor Philip Callow, proposed the Bonding be put on the market. Any proceeds would be split: if the property sold for up to £850,000, the council would take 60 per cent and the tenants 40 per cent.

If it reached a higher figure the split would be 70/30.

Discussions had already taken place with planners "about the use of the building and in particular the potential layout of any residential development" of the Grade II listed building.

This report raises crucial questions. How could the council consider selling off a unique part of York's heritage before consulting the building's owners, the taxpayers?

Why was the council discussing a deal which would see the tenants rewarded despite not paying rent?

If the building is uninsurable, who is going to buy a home there?

Is anything safe from the commuter flats brigade?

THEY are "wretched sky rats" and "disease-ridden pests", according to Evening Press letter writers.

But could the York pigeons be the descendants of war heroes?

Two readers have been in touch to remind the pigeon-baiters of this breed's noble history. "More than 100,000 pigeons served this country in the First World War, and over 200,000 in the Second," writes Mrs W Carter, from Acomb.

"They saved thousands of lives by carrying messages when all other forms of communication had broken down.

"They struggled on with shrapnel in their beaks and their bodies, flying a mile a minute to bring messages home.

"For this record they won 32 Dickin medals, which is the animal equivalent of the Victorian Cross."

Patricia Greenwood, of Tadcaster Road, alerted us to an article in a national newspaper by writer and animal activist Jilly Cooper.

Written to raise awareness of the fundraising campaign for an animal war memorial, it recounts the story of White Vision.

This brave bird saved the ten-man crew of a plane which plunged into the North Sea by flying 60 miles to alert rescuers.

As Mrs Carter puts it: "You owe your freedom, in part, to these brave little birds, so don't begrudge them a few crumbs of comfort now."

NORTH Yorkshire might be about to lose one of its most high profile women.

Chief Constable "Cinder" Della Cannings could soon be going to the ball, according to some gossip we spotted in the Daily Mail.

Last week Sir John Stevens confirmed he was stepping down as Metropolitan Police Commissioner in January, and the paper considered his possible successors. Among them was "North Yorkshire's straight-talking Chief Constable, cheroot-smoking Della 'the fella' Cannings, who carries a truncheon, even at her desk".

Write to: The Diary, Chris Titley, The Evening Press, 76-86 Walmgate, York YO1 9YN

Email diary@ycp.co.uk

Telephone (01904) 653051 ext 337

Updated: 09:13 Monday, July 12, 2004