ON Yorkshire Day, we find the region's capital wrestling with challenges ancient and modern.

Task one: provide a transport system which keeps York's air clean.

Task two: meet the Minster's massive maintenance costs.

It is a century or so since cars first took to York's streets, and for at least half that time planners have been struggling to adapt this small city to the ever increasing demands of the motorist. The latest transport proposals have not been prompted by congestion, however, but pollution.

York's already variable air quality is set to worsen to the point that the city is penalised by the Government. More to the point, it will cause widespread respiratory problems.

The council's response has been radical and imaginative. In the past, motorists have complained that York traffic management has involved too much stick and too few carrots: while the car was made unwelcome, adequate public transport alternatives were not provided.

This time, the council is looking at it the other way around. A pioneering light railway system is proposed, the first of its kind in the country. Other schemes being considered include the return of trams, or a guided-bus system.

Any one of these ideas will take an enormous amount of effort and investment to implement. York is used to ambitious public transport plans which never make it off the drawing board - remember the monorail in the sky?

The difference is we are now dealing with a matter of public health. It is time to grasp the transport nettle.

The Dean and Chapter of York Minster have done some nettle-grasping of their own. Faced with mounting Minster bills and a shortfall in voluntary donations, they impose an entrance fee from tomorrow.

This is a hugely contentious decision. The expense is bound to put off many families from visiting this great cathedral. When the Dean and Chapter meet to review the charges they must carefully consider whether the pain has been worth the gain.

Updated: 10:51 Friday, August 01, 2003