Funding does not rely solely on park authority

WITH reference to the article about the future of Hudson House in Reeth (Yorkshire Post, February 11), I would like to correct a misleading impression.

Your reporter stated that the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority “could pull the plug on funding for Hudson House in Reeth”.

The National Park Authority does not and never has provided all the funding for Hudson House as the statement implies – neither do we have any involvement in the running of the building as a business.

We are one of a number of organisations that pays a licence fee to run services within the building – in our case to run a National Park Centre and Tourist Information Centre. Others include Richmondshire District Council, North Yorkshire County Council and the North Yorkshire Police Authority as well as a number of smaller organisations.

The contract for the hire of that space expires in January 2013 and the authority is proposing not to renew it as part of the drive to cut costs following a reduction in our grant from Government of nearly £1.9m (or 31 per cent) including inflation over the next four years.

The proposal to withdraw our services from Hudson House is one of a number of suggested cuts to the YDNPA’s work and staffing levels included in a draft budget which is now out for public consultation.