CIVIC-minded York citizens must be exhausted. There is a pattern to the way things work in this city: the council comes up with a short-sighted policy, then announces it. People are forced to take to the streets, organise petitions, write letters and generally make a proper fuss in protest.

Then - sometimes - the council backs down. The campaigners collapse into their armchairs, only to be roused when our governors get it wrong again.

It happened with the proposed closure of the swimming pools. It happened with Shoppergate: and the council's intransigence on this issue is still costing us dear.

And it has happened on the proposed move of York Archives.

The past is crucial to this city's present. So much so that York was rebranded last year under the slogan: "Living with history".

This motto makes it sound as though 'history' were a grumpy granny whom we are reluctantly obliged to look after. Which is a pretty good description of some councillors' attitude to all things historical, given their desire to commercialise the Castle district and shove the archives out of the way.

Recent events at the top of the city council should remind our elected representatives that their time in power is transitory. And during their brief time in office they are custodians of centuries of York history. Their role is to protect that history for this generation and then hand it on to the next in good nick.

Unfortunately, the archives affair suggests this role has largely been forgotten. In the archives building, tucked next to York City Art Gallery, are council minutes and accounts that go back 500 years. City Freemen's Rolls dating from the 13th century are held alongside ancient maps, business records and much more.

It is a unique depository of York's heritage. The council should have treated such a collection and the staff who look after it with respect. Instead, it sought to transfer the archives to York University before anyone knew much about it.

And when city archivist Rita Freedman wrote to councillors pleading with them to block the move, she was suspended, prevented from talking to the press, and finally given a written warning.

Locally, as nationally, New Labour's heavy-handed attempts to manipulate the news agenda tend to backfire. There was an outcry over Rita's treatment, and furious protests over the plan to ship the archives off to Heslington.

That is not to say there are no advantages to the idea. The purpose-built facility would allow more people to view the records. The opening hours would be longer. It would eventually enable virtual access by computer, and documents could be more readily used for school and university projects.

Fantastic. But why at the university? Why not do all that at its present site, where it is close to the reference library, the Minster library and the art gallery? Or at another site within the heart of the city - which is where a collection like this belongs?

The Friends Of York City Archives argue that the new facility will be too small, and point to a Public Record Office report which said there is "great scope for the creation of additional space" at its present location.

But that option was never considered. Alternative ideas to those the council favours rarely are - at least not at first.

On Monday we reported that council officials, after much public pressure, are finally to look at different ways to improve York's archives. This should have been done at the start.

When the council consults first and draws up its plans afterwards, it saves a lot of time, money and heartache. And all those civic-minded folk get a much-deserved rest.

Updated: 11:37 Wednesday, June 26, 2002