GROUPS worried about their future use of the York Barbican Centre are to meet council leisure chiefs and the venue's likely managers to discuss their concerns.

City of York Council leader Steve Galloway said groups such as the York Guildhall Orchestra, which has performed to thousands of music lovers at the Barbican, should "iron out" these issues with Absolute Leisure before the council "signs on the dotted line".

Peter Vaughan, a member of the orchestra committee, aired his concerns to the council's executive last night. These included maintaining a ticket office during the refurbishment, avoiding the "real risk" of losing audiences by ensuring good access and public transport to the venue, and improving the auditorium's acoustics.

Barbican Venture York Limited has offered £10,295,000 for the Barbican site, but will also pay a £35,000 non-refundable sum when signing up to a conditional development agreement.

A planning application is set to be considered in April. If approved, it will be referred to the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, because the scheme involves the sale of council land.

Developers could then start on site as early as June, with a closing date for the pool and auditorium fixed at May 31.

Executive members voted unanimously last night to approve the "main sale conditions".

Charlie Croft, assistant director for lifelong learning and leisure, reassured potential users that the ticket office could be sited elsewhere, and that an acoustics expert had been taken on to the design team to look at the issue.

Mr Vaughan said: "I welcome the council leader's suggestion that we should enter into dialogue with both leisure services and Absolute Leisure about the whole range of challenges that face us."

But Labour's leisure spokesperson Alan Jones expressed concern that the Barbican Working Group was being "totally by-passed" as the plans moved ahead.

Updated: 14:03 Wednesday, February 04, 2004