Why North Yorkshire shake-up can’t be justified – Yorkshire Post Letters

IS it really appropriate for residents and local business to put a huge area like North Yorkshire through the pain and disruption of yet another local government reorganisation at a time when we are in the middle of the pandemic and the implementation of Brexit?

Wouldn’t it be better to allow things to settle down before embarking on a project like this?

I see newspaper articles featuring the North Yorkshire County Council leader Carl Les urging a pressing urgency for reorganisation, and now Coun Richard Musgrave, deputy leader at Selby Council, suggests York should be absorbed into a single unitary North Yorkshire.

Frankly I don’t know what planet these councillors are living on.

North Yorkshire’s economy is mainly based on agriculture and tourism, and the thousands of small businesses which go with these industries.

Although there is a need for some major infrastructure projects such as dualling the A64, these are not numerous and do not need a devolved administration – they could be dealt with jointly through councils and the usual statutory authorities under the leadership of the LEP. 

Although there are pockets 
of deprivation, North Yorkshire has a high employment rate, 
and although wages are low, 
as is true of most places in 
the UK, there are plenty of 
very rich people who live here too.

The attraction of major industries may be imperative for areas in the rest of the country which are densely populated, but is not appropriate in a sparsely populated agricultural area like North Yorkshire.

Urgent consideration should be given to supporting agriculture. At the moment, 
UK agriculture could only 
feed 60 per cent of the UK population.

In view of difficulties in getting food from the continent in the aftermath of Brexit, shouldn’t the Government concentrate on our county’s food production and not more industrialisation which can’t help its agricultural and tourist economy?

From: Peter Rickaby, West Park, Selby.

JACOB Rees-Mogg MP claims fish in British waters are “better and happier” after Brexit (The Yorkshire Post, January 16).

Were he to visit Bridlington, I am sure he would depart feeling “battered and sadder”, his stupid comments truly filleted by those who know more about fishing than he does.

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