Learn devolution lessons from the old North Riding – Yorkshire Post Letters

THERE’S coverage of the proposals to devolve local government in North Yorkshire.

Realistically, the current geographic area is too large, but the population is about correct, and those of us long enough in the tooth recall the last reshuffle in 1974 will know that no matter what is decided it will not please everyone.

I was employed by the former North Riding for its final few months, and although our ‘patch’ ambled up towards Stainmoor and Bowes, and across to Guisborough, the county didn’t go very far south, unlike now when a journey from County Hall to Skipton, Scarborough or Selby is a 100-mile round trip.

There were several disasters in that reorganisation – the ill-fated Cleveland, the ill-fated Humberside, the latter made worse by the notion of a North Humberside and a South Humberside. These problems were mainly caused by little or no consultation with “people”.

Residents of the old East Riding and Lincolnshire would certainly not make happy bed-fellows in one administrative county. Fortunately the historic ‘Cleveland’ was severed from the North Yorkshire proposals and became almost its own entity.

But let us look to the future proposals if there’s a risk of splitting the existing county into two more manageable geographic sizes.

Residents of the northern parts of North Yorkshire have little in common with the southern parts and vice versa, people in Great Ayton don’t give a damn about a regular bus service to Leeds, and people in Settle won’t be interested in being able to get to hospital in Middlesbrough. If the county does need to be split, it needs to be a north-south split, not an east-west split (along the A1M).

Nationally, the government regions don’t fit well with people’s natural affinity, North Yorkshire being encompassed with Yorkshire and Humberside is weird, especially in the north end of the county where we are much more naturally tied to the North East region.

This is proved by very scientific research. Look at any TV aerial in Richmond, Bedale or Thirsk, and you will see it points to Bilsdale mast (Newcastle), not Emley Moor (Leeds).

There are also practical facilities management issues with any costly realignment of local government, back in 1974 a lot of the new district/borough councils took over the outdated offices of former Urban Districts and Rural Districts resulting is poor office accommodation scattered around different towns.

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Thank you

James Mitchinson

Editor