RYEDALE MP John Greenway is calling for his constituency to be given a new name if changes are made to its boundaries.

Speaking at a public inquiry into Boundary Commission proposals to alter constituency boundaries across North Yorkshire and York, he was suggesting that "Thirsk, Malton and Filey" would fairly reflect the proposed new make-up for his constituency.

Under the proposals, Ryedale would no longer contain any York council wards, but would gain wards from the Vale of York seat, which would be scrapped. Mr Greenway said: "Thirsk and Malton is an historic name which existed until 1983. Adding Filey to the name would help increase Filey's sense of belonging to the constituency and reflect the fact that the constituency embraces part of the North Yorkshire's coastal community, instead of the suburbs of York as in the past."

Referring to the plans to bring parts of Hambleton back into the constituency, he said Easingwold and surrounding villages had been part of Ryedale from 1983 to 1997 and he had never encountered any concerns about this.

"Thirsk and the surrounding villages used to be in the old Thirsk and Malton constituency until 1983. The Thirsk area has very strong links with many parts of Ryedale, particularly the village of Helmsley and the surrounding area. So it makes sense to bring Thirsk and environs back into where it belonged for more than 100 years."

The Conservative MP also claimed that plans to give York two "doughnut" constituencies - York Inner and York Outer - would perpetuate the "us and them" divide between city dwellers and people in outlying areas. He said the transfer of outlying wards into the City of York Council area in the 1990s had been "acrimonious and unpopular" with electors.

"If York is ever to become a complete and integrated community it is important to bind the old City with its new suburbs," said the MP, whose party favours dividing the greater York area into York North and York South constituencies.

Vale of York's Conservative MP Anne McIntosh, whose constituency will be broken up under the proposals, said she obviously regretted this, but felt there was a logic in creating two constituencies for York. She said Vale of York Conservatives had suggested the North/South split for York instead of the doughnut proposals.

York's Labour MP Hugh Bayley was set to tell the inquiry that he favours retaining the existing City of York constituency, partly because of its long 700-year history. He said he wanted to keep both sides of the river together, and believed most people in York wanted this as well.

The Boundary Commission proposal would add to the Ryedale constituency about half of Hambleton, including all of Thirsk and Easingwold. It would remove from Ryedale such York area communities as Strensall, Huntington, New Earswick and Osbaldwick.

Updated: 10:11 Wednesday, February 05, 2003