Ruling passions

LEADING the City of York is not an enjoyable job, according to Steve Galloway. "It is a job of work. But it is a tremendous privilege," he said. "I sometimes think I should pay the people of York for the privilege of being council leader."

The first six months in charge have been a challenge, Coun Galloway admits, but one he feels his Liberal Democrat group has been up to.

Measures he highlighted include the extension of household recycling services, the introduction of the footpath gum removal machine, or gumbuster, and the PACY project, which sees members of York's homeless community in paid work.

All these are linked to the initiative of which Coun Galloway seems most proud - York Pride.

He said: "It is about driving up council service standards to set an example. I am sure now in terms of street cleansing the city is a cleaner place to be."

The campaign is set to be taken to the next stage on Tuesday, with the launch of York Business Pride. It will then be rolled out to the local community, with a big push next spring.

Coun Galloway praised volunteer Poppleton litter-picker Carol Partington, recently featured in the Evening Press, for her community-minded efforts.

"We are looking for more examples like that to help motivate people," he said.

Away from the successful launch of council initiatives though, there are tougher issues to face up to in York.

Small but significant groups of youths are creating havoc on some York estates, while there is also the matter of a worst-case £8.4 million budget gap for the council to tackle.

Coun Galloway said: "We do face a particularly difficult challenge to not only make the streets look nice but make them safe as well."

He promised to indroduce a range of crime-fighting measures including an 'alleygating officer' to make it more difficult for burglars to operate in terraced areas. There are also plans to make council homes more burglar-proof.

He said the council hoped national initiatives such as neighbourhood nurseries and the SureStart project, where people can learn parenting skills, would help reach the root of the problem over the long-term.

In the shorter term he said the council's successful summer and half-term holiday activity programmes had cut down on anti-social behaviour.

But Coun Galloway acknowledged the need for enforcement, including the use of anti-social behaviour orders (ASBOs) and acceptable behaviour contracts.

Reaching and tackling the root of behaviour problems costs money though - something the council is short of.

Coun Galloway said he expects the various executive members to come up with between £3 million and £4 million of savings towards the £8 million gap - which works out at a 22 per cent council tax rise.

He would not give a possible figure for the tax hike, but said: "It won't be 22 per cent. But until we get the Government settlement it is all speculation."

Coun Galloway has previously said the council has no "sacred cows" in the search for savings. He declined to guarantee there would be no council redundancies - "I don't think anybody could give that assurance" - but did say there were no plans to close services.

He said: "We did not campaign hard to win the election to close services. The Government grant would have to be truly disastrous for us to do that."

Coun Galloway said the Without Walls project, aimed at drawing up a 20-year vision for York, was moving again after a period "stuck in a rut".

He praised the work of the various parties involved and urged York residents to comment on the draft city vision in next month's consultation.

"Quickly after that will come the serious action of delivering the project," he said.

On Coppergate, Coun Galloway said the council does not have a preferred option for the site's redevelopment.

He said so-far confidential talks had been held with developers Land Securities, but declined to reveal any details.

"They have not said they want to pull out," was as far as he would go.

Possibilities to get a suitable scheme for the site could see more houses mixed in with the shops, with the chance of a new footbridge over the River Foss.

"That might be the way to get an acceptable financial package coupled with a higher quality area design," he said.

Despite all the major projects and issues power in York brings, Coun Galloway pledged Liberal Democrat councillors would not forget who gave them that power.

He added: "We will continue knocking on doors.

"That is where we came from and that is what will sustain us over the coming years."

Updated: 10:09 Friday, October 31, 2003