A large-scale sculpture trail could come to York as part of tourism bosses’ plans for the city.
Make It York has presented its three-year business plan to City of York Council, which includes a range of activity planned for 2022-2023.
The report says it will “establish York TrailBlazers, working alongside York Civic Trust and key partners on an exciting citywide programme of events and activities, including potentially a large scale sculpture trail”.
The company also wants to extend its reach out of the city centre and into the suburbs.
It plans to “curate a year’s programme of cultural initiatives and installations, providing opportunities to artists and cultural practitioners, prioritising initiatives that include engagement with marginalised communities across the city’s wards (ie not limited to the city centre) and engage closely with students”.
Make It York also plans to create a listings guide for events and “explore the potential for a York Creates Fund”.
MD Sarah Loftus presented the business plan to City of York Council.
Aiming to renew the agency’s bruised reputation, the document drew praise from councillors.
More transparent
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Ms Loftus, who took up her post in November, said there was “wide support” for what MIY does, praised some “excellent projects” and said it was “really valued by key partners.”
She added: “What we need to do better, and this has been loud and clear…is that Make it York needs to be more transparent and clear. We need to change the way we do some things because ‘we’ve always done them that way’.”
The business plan includes key performance indicators so targets can be measured and a tender process has been launched to increase transparency about contracts.
MIY, a company wholly owned by the council, was criticised for a lack of transparency and accountability under its previous leadership.
“Everything that we do, we will monitor and evaluate,” Ms Loftus said.
Despite a pledge to cut costs, the tourism chief said the visitor information centre in Museum Street would remain open, though MIY itself is to look for a new home to save money.
Ms Loftus also revealed this year’s Christmas market would ban single-use plastics, which drew praise from the council’s deputy leader, Coun Andy D’Agorne.
Additional reporting: Joe Cooper, Local Democracy Reporter