THE great return to work began for many people today after the long Christmas and New Year break. The festivities are a fading memory and the New Year stretches before us.

What will 2006 hold for York and North and East Yorkshire? Without a reliable crystal ball to hand, we cannot say for sure - but certain issues loom large.

Chief among these will be the local economy, which has been operating below par for a worryingly long time.

One blow to a possible revival arrived today with the news that deputy prime minister John Prescott had rejected multi-million pound plans for a business park at Monks Cross, which could have generated 2,500 jobs, according to its backers.

A disappointment to some - but the right decision to others, including City of York Council, which believed the plans to be "premature".

Mr Prescott's department will be busy on York's behalf, with Government decisions awaited on the Derwenthorpe and Germany Beck developments, as well as the expansion of the University of York. A planning brief is also awaited for the ever-controversial Castle-Piccadilly area around Clifford's Tower.

It is to be hoped that these most thorny of local issues can be resolved to general satisfaction and to the benefit of the local economy.

And what prospect is there for a proper, fully functioning York Barbican Centre to emerge from the long-running wrangle about its development? It would certainly brighten up the New Year to see that sports and entertainment venue operating again, instead of seeing it dark, unused and unloved. What a waste.

So here's hoping for 2006.

Updated: 10:13 Tuesday, January 03, 2006