WITHOUT fanfare or tickertape, a new political party is born. Keep York Local is no mass movement - if you described it as a "three men and a dog" outfit, you would be a dog over.

But the trio of friends behind Keep York Local are voicing concerns and frustrations that the big parties would be foolish to ignore.

They cannot afford to buy even the smallest York house. Born-and-bred residents are being trampled on by wealthy incomers who push property prices even further beyond their reach, they say.

Meanwhile, the unfettered power of the developers could wreck York's character forever.

No doubt these anxieties will chime with many readers, but it would not be desirable to discourage incomers. Since the days of the merchant adventurers, this city has prospered through its trading links and what is now termed "inward investment". To repel investors at York's Bars would be to rob the city of its future.

However, Keep York Local's call to put the needs of ordinary city families first could spark a debate that perhaps the mainstream politicians would rather avoid. They have failed to offer any workable solution to the housing crisis, after all.

So should we be placing more emphasis on encouraging home-grown prosperity rather than importing wealth from elsewhere?

The public response to Keep York Local will indicate what York's locals think.

Updated: 10:22 Tuesday, August 23, 2005