Residents and businesses in York are being asked to help draw up a "quality of life" action plan for the city's future.

The intention is to combine green ideals with practical measures to ensure a good standard of living while safeguarding the environment.

Five working groups are to be set up under the umbrella of Local Agenda 21, the body set up in York, and in other cities, after the Rio Earth Summit in 1992.

The groups will each concentrate on a different topic relating to life in York, such as transport, before coming together to formulate the action plan.

And Local Agenda 21, which comprises the City of York Council, local businesses and voluntary groups, wants others to get involved.

Lynne Ceeney, the city council's Local Agenda 21 officer, said: "We are inviting anyone with an interest, be it personal or professional, to get involved in the writing of the plan.

"We are trying to come up with a series of steps to improve the quality of life today in a way that means future generations inherit a city as least as good as the one we've got now."

Interested people will be grouped into five topic groups depending on their area of concern:

economic - work-related issues, and waste and pollution;

social - issues like food, water, housing, health, shopping and safety;

culture - includes education, leisure and community living;

environment - issues like access to the natural environment, biodiversity and pollution;

transport - a major concern identified by people of all ages in York.

Each group will be asked to meet four or five times in the next few months to come up with recommendations for taking the project forward.

These will be used to formulate a draft Local Agenda 21 plan, which will be made available to the public for comments and suggestions.

Lynne Ceeney said: "The aim is to produce a workable plan, rather than a wish list. We want people to get involved because they know what they like and don't like and their own daily routines much better than we, sitting in an office, do."

For more information, write to LA21 Steering Group, City of York Council, The Guildhall, York, YO1 9QN, or phone 01904 552036.

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