Wind of change

YORKSHIRE stands on the brink of a new industrial revolution. The region no longer produces enough textiles to clothe the nation or enough coal to keep the home fires burning but it could – and should – be at the forefront of new technologies which will transform Britain’s energy mix.

Its rich industrial heritage makes it the ideal location for the thousands of manufacturing jobs which will be created from the growth in wind turbines. The fact that two multinational energy giants are considering sites along the east coast, which we reveal today, is a vote of confidence in the breadth of skills and natural resources possessed by the region.

Their deals have not yet been sealed, however, so local and national political leaders must continue to make the case for Yorkshire. They must also make it easier to take on workers. If Alston and Gamesa come to this region, possibly joining General Electric and Siemens in a burgeoning turbine production industry, then it will have been despite a mountain of red tape which makes it unnecessarily slow and costly to hire and train staff.

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Changes like this are part of this newspaper’s Powering Yorkshire’s Future campaign, which was launched last year with hopes that up to 10,000 direct and supply chain jobs could be brought here by Government-led plans to construct two of the world’s largest wind farms off the coast at Hornsea and Dogger Bank.

When compared to rival sites at Newcastle and in Scotland, the case for this region is strong. It has the ports, the infrastructure and the experience of high-tech manufacturing, derived from sectors such as nuclear technology around Sheffield and Rotherham, which could make it a centre for excellence in the industry. Investment here would create a transformative effect which we need and deserve.

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