{"id":1453,"date":"2022-08-03T13:42:46","date_gmt":"2022-08-03T12:42:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/?p=1453"},"modified":"2023-06-05T15:58:21","modified_gmt":"2023-06-05T14:58:21","slug":"devolution-deal-for-york-north-yorkshire","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/2022\/08\/03\/devolution-deal-for-york-north-yorkshire\/","title":{"rendered":"Devolution Deal for York &#038; North Yorkshire"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<h1 class=\"wp-block-heading\"><span style=\"color:#D06060\">Devolution Deal for York &amp; North Yorkshire<\/span><\/h1>\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-post-date\"><time datetime=\"2022-08-03T13:42:46+01:00\">3 Aug 2022 1:42 PM<\/time><\/div>\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"700\" height=\"467\" src=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/walmgate-bar-modal-filter-700.jpg\" alt=\"Walmgate Bar, York\" class=\"wp-image-1456\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/walmgate-bar-modal-filter-700.jpg 700w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/walmgate-bar-modal-filter-700-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/walmgate-bar-modal-filter-700-600x400.jpg 600w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 700px) 100vw, 700px\" \/><figcaption>Walmgate Bar, York<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>York &amp; North Yorkshire are set for a devolution deal and an elected Mayor, after <a rel=\"noreferrer noopener\" href=\"https:\/\/www.gov.uk\/government\/publications\/york-and-north-yorkshire-devolution-deal\/york-and-north-yorkshire-devolution-deal\" target=\"_blank\">a policy paper<\/a> was signed by Secretary of State Greg Clark, Leader of North Yorkshire County Council Carl Les, and Leader of City of York Council Keith Aspden.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The policy paper says the parties are &#8216;minded to agree&#8217; to the creation of a Mayoral Combined Authority (MCA), which will have new powers and funding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Governance<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>One of the key features of the new arrangement will be a directly-elected Mayor for the combined authority, with the first election taking place in May 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>York &amp; North Yorkshire Local Enterprise Partnership is to be integrated into the MCA. Local Enterprise Partnerships (LEPs) are little-known organisations that distribute quite large sums of public money for infrastructure projects, so it is probably a good thing if there is democratic control over the local LEP. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The policy paper says integrating the LEP into the democratic institutions will &#8216;ensure a strong business voice at the heart of local decision making&#8217;.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Finances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The new MCA will get \u00a318 million per year for 30 years from central government. <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It will also be the lead authority for the planning and delivery of the UK Shared Prosperity Fund in the region &#8211; a fund with a value of \u00a314 million in 2024\/5.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transport<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>The Mayor and MCA will have responsibility for a region-wide Local Transport Plan, to be developed by March 2024.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Mayor will be responsible for a local transport budget for highway maintenance.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The Mayor and MCA will set up a Key Route Network, and develop a single strategic asset management plan. It appears that this will include: <\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\"><li>proposals to dual the A64 from Hopgrove roundabout, York, to Barton Hill<\/li><li>managing North Yorkshire&#8217;s \u00a356.1 million scheme to move the A59 at Kex Gill<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>The document has next to nothing to say about active travel, just that York and North Yorkshire &#8220;&#8230;will work with Active Travel England on any future walking and cycling schemes&#8230;&#8221; <\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>It is deeply unimpressive and indicative of local leaders who still prioritise increased traffic, and mere crumbs to active travel, in spite of the fact that this is incompatible with Net Zero.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Net Zero and Climate Change<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<blockquote class=\"wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow\"><p>&#8216;York and North Yorkshire have the ambition to be net zero by 2034 and become England&#8217;s first carbon negative region by 2040. The scale of [their] ambition is based on their unique innovation and industrial capabilities; their nationally significant business base in low-carbon energy (such as Drax&#8217;s large-scale bioenergy with carbon capture and storage plans); and their diverse and extensive landscapes, owing to the area&#8217;s rural and coastal geography.&#8217;<\/p><cite>para 81 of the york and north yorkshire devolution policy paper<\/cite><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n<p>What a load of absolute guff.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Transport<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>We know that <a href=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/2022\/07\/25\/york-north-yorkshire-emissions-reduction-pathways\/\">a big reduction in private car use is needed to have any hope of reaching Net Zero<\/a>, yet the policy paper includes two major road capacity expansion schemes and no specific active travel schemes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Drax Power Station and Greenwashing<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.clientearth.org\/projects\/the-greenwashing-files\/drax\/\">Client Earth&#8217;s greenwashing files list Drax<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Drax imports wood pellets from the USA and elsewhere, and burns them. In 2020, its total emissions were 19.2 million tonnes of CO2.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Since moving from coal to biomass (wood pellets) in 2012, emissions from Drax are higher than before. Drax can only claim to be zero-emission because of a carbon accounting trick: the emissions are counted where the trees are felled, not where the wood is burnt.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In the real world, emissions of CO2 still come out of the smoke stacks of Drax power station.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Future plans for Carbon Capture and Storage at Drax are highly speculative, and should not be relied on by the region as a sound basis for becoming carbon-negative.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Landscapes<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>While it is a nice idea to use landscapes to capture carbon, it is not happening in York &amp; North Yorkshire. Worse, burning of heather on grouse moors is still going on: I took this photo in March 2022 from Greenhow Hill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-full\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"500\" height=\"338\" src=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/greenhow-burning-2-500.jpg\" alt=\"Fire set by grouse moor, taken from Greenhow Hill, March 2022\" class=\"wp-image-1455\" srcset=\"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/greenhow-burning-2-500.jpg 500w, https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/08\/greenhow-burning-2-500-300x203.jpg 300w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 500px) 100vw, 500px\" \/><figcaption>Fire set by grouse moor employees on behalf of the landowner, taken from Greenhow Hill, March 2022<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Whilst it&#8217;s nice that the policy paper talks about Net Zero, no one involved in the policy paper is anywhere close to supporting credible actions to achieve it.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Devolution Deal for York &amp; North Yorkshire York &amp; North Yorkshire are set for a devolution deal and an elected Mayor, after a policy paper was signed by Secretary of State Greg Clark, Leader of North Yorkshire County Council Carl<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1454,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,28],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-1453","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-north-yorkshire-county-council","category-york"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1453"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1471,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1453\/revisions\/1471"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1454"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1453"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1453"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hedgehogcycling.co.uk\/wp\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1453"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}