How North Yorkshire has become a star of film and television - Carl Les

I was reminded of this two days into the New Year, whilst sitting in Alf White’s armchair in the recreation of his front room in the World of James Herriot (WoJH) in Thirsk. There stood an early television, tiny black and white screen of course, but in a well-crafted hardwood case.

I was there at the invitation of BBC Look North who were doing a piece on North Yorkshire Council`s Destination Management Plan. They were focusing on that part that illustrates the work we are doing to identify and promote locations in the county that have been used, and continue to be used, as locations for large screen and TV productions. Where better to start then than at the World of James Herriot, probably the most famous of all media productions present and past featuring North Yorkshire, both in this country and across the world.

I was told that when the first series of All Creatures Great and Small was shown in the United States, it attracted a new audience of 50 million viewers overnight. And it is a well-known fact in tourism that people who enjoy a programme for context as well as content, have an almost unabated appetite to visit the places that are featured.

In North Yorkshire we have these in abundance in the Dales, the Moors, the Coast and individual iconic locations like Castle Howard. Even in series filmed elsewhere, there can be many references to North Yorkshire. In Downton Abbey the Granthams were always going off to Thirsk, Ripon, York and racing at Catterick. Every little mention helps.

It's always pleasing to revisit the WoJH because of its authenticity. This is where it really happened, it’s not make-believe. Now there is another attraction, a new room dedicated to another chapter, the enormous success of the documentary series The Yorkshire Vet, featuring Alf Wight’s most famous apprentice alumni, Peter Wright.

However we don`t just want to encourage more people to visit single locations, even though daytrips are still a valuable part of the marketing mix. We want people to come for longer, to stay over, to visit other sites and enjoy our famous welcome and hospitality.

This has the added advantage that it helps spread the load around peak spots and peak times. The Council must work with others to achieve this, and I must compliment the work done by the Herriot Group of Attractions, which includes retail and hospitality members, which is doing just that, and doing it across a broader swathe of the county now that the new series of All Creatures is filmed in Wharfedale.

Of course the visitor economy is not the only sector we need to promote in North Yorkshire, and I’m looking forward to working with the Mayoral Combined Authority’s newly created business board, alongside the Leader of City of York Council, as the voice of business giving the Mayor advice on what investment business needs to build a strong and sustainable economy. One key need is a willing and available work force.

My postbag is starting to fill with criticism about our new policy of charging double council tax on second homes. In all parts of the county, but especially in some communities, there is a shortage of available housing for local people to live, work and raise a family.

This has been a problem for some time, and in parts it is a crisis. In some second homes and holiday lets outnumber homes for people to live 52 weeks of the year. We have campaigned to be given planning powers to manage the number of holiday lets in a community.

Let me be clear, we value the contribution holiday lets can make to a local economy, but it has to be a manageable number, and we are not hostile to second-home owners, but they are fortunate to have more than one home, our concern is with those in our communities who have none.

We knew that this would be unpopular with some, but it is the right thing to do. If an owner doesn`t want to pay, or feels they can’t afford the extra tax, they have alternatives.

They could turn the property into a holiday let, although that doesn’t help with availability. They could rent the property out, which does. They would keep their asset.

Or ultimately they could sell it which does increase the housing stock. Or they can keep the asset and pay the tax, the extra revenue we will use to provide more affordable housing.

Carl Les is the leader of North Yorkshire Council.