The guardians of a national park have warned they will not support the latest proposed North Yorkshire and York devolution deal unless they can keep jurisdiction over planning.
A full meeting of the North York Moors National Park Authority heard its leaders had been left in the dark over the local government minister’s plan to create one or more unitary authorities across the area as part of devolution, and scepticism raised over whether the changes would go ahead given a number of other priorities announced by the government.
In spite of the uncertainty, members said they remained supportive of the financial asks and wider environmental ambitions being put to government.
Members of the park authority approved a recommendation to press for the authority to also retain primacy over its key purposes to conserve and enhance natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage and promote opportunities for the public understanding and enjoyment of the park’s special qualities.
The move comes as North Yorkshire’s district, borough and county councils draw up proposals, which will include reshaping how key decisions over developments are made.
An officers’ report to the meeting highlighted that the large land mass of North Yorkshire’s national parks and areas of outstanding natural beauty would mean with one mayor at a national or regional level it would be relatively easy to give environmental priority to protected landscapes.
However, the report stated if a sub-regional mayor with an almost entirely rural landscape was given the task of economic development the pressure to see the protected landscapes as part of a single undifferentiated economic opportunity area “could be irresistible”.
It added even if the mayor was given the role of protecting the landscapes, with their special economies and internationally prized conservation assets, it would be unsurprising if local pressure for inappropriate development also proved irresistible.
The authority’s chairman, Jim Bailey, said economic growth and cutting carbon tended to work against each other, but as no national park was part of a devolution deal – apart for a small areas of Teesside – there remained “everything to play for”.
Member Jeremy Walker, a former chief executive of North Yorkshire County Council, told members it was vital the authority retained primacy over its key purposes to conserve and enhance natural beauty, wildlife and cultural heritage and promote opportunities for the public understanding and enjoyment of the park’s special qualities.
He added: “We should at all costs hang on to our planning powers. Without them our influence in the park and on the landscapes and in communities is seriously weakened.
“This is something we should really fight for as hard as we can. We are serving a national purpose, not just a local or sub-regional one.”
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