PROTESTERS fighting plans to develop part of a York school site for housing claim the City of York Council has failed to consult properly on its future.

They object to a proposal by the council to sell off half the Oaken Grove Primary School site in Haxby for housing, after it closes this summer.

The council has also proposed to pass over ownership and management of the rest of the site to either Haxby Town Council or Haxby Youth and Community Association.

Campaigning residents, who have launched a petition and letter-writing campaign, now say the town council has not been properly consulted.

Town Council chairman Ken Holdsworth said that he and the clerk had been involved in private, informal meetings with City of York Council officers during last year. But that was before a city council meeting in November, when the proposal was agreed on by councillors and became public.

Coun Holdsworth said that since then, the town council had not been asked for its opinion formally, so they could all discuss it as would be normal with a public consultation.

"If somebody had asked us, we would have said it should be kept for community use with a park maintained by City of York Council," he said.

"Nobody's asked us whether we can take over part of the site. They're presuming we're going to be able to pay for it."

Eddie Benson, chairman of Haxby Youth and Community Association, said his organisation, which will get a new youth club on the site, had had lots of "positive meetings" with the council.

"We believe the proposal it is making is an economic proposal. We don't believe having the whole of the site would be viable economically. Having said that, we've nothing in writing and there are some concerns about that."

Roy Templeman, the city council's director of environment and development, said that since January 2001 there had been more than 25 meetings held with community groups, ward committee, and representatives of the town council and other interested parties from the community.

He said the city council had also made sure there would be a more formal consultation through the planning process, by submitting an outline planning application earlier this month for development of the site.

Mr Templeman said discussions about the community facilities on the site were still ongoing, which was why groups had not received anything formal yet.

Updated: 11:42 Friday, March 29, 2002