Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence were received from Councillors Philip Barrett, Derek Bastiman (substitute Councillor Clive Pearson) and Tom Jones (substitute Councillor Andy Paraskos).

It was resolved that the minutes of the meeting held on 4 September 2025, having been printed and circulated, be taken as read and confirmed and signed by the Chair as a correct record.

All Members are invited to declare at this point any interests they have in items appearing on this agenda, including the nature of those interests.

On agenda item 5 - Service Update – Economic Development, Regeneration, Tourism:

·       Councillor Janet Jefferson declared personal interests in this item as the President of Scarborough Chamber of Trade and Commerce and the owner of the The Train Shop in Scarborough.

·       Councillor Melanie Davis declared an interest under this item as the Chair of Selby United Charities, which holds an interest in land which forms part of the Selby West (Crosshills Lane) development referenced in the report.

·       Councillor Phil Trumper declared a personal interest in this item as the Chair of the Whitby Maritime Hub steering group.

Members of the public may ask questions or make statements at this meeting if they have given notice (to include the text of the question/statement) to Will Baines, Senior Scrutiny Officer (contact details below) no later than midday on Friday 17 October 2025. Each speaker should limit themselves to 3 minutes on any item. Members of the public who have given notice will be invited to speak:

·       At this point in the meeting if their questions/statements relate to matters which are not otherwise on the Agenda (subject to an overall time limit of 30 minutes);

·       When the relevant Agenda item is being considered if they wish to speak on a matter which is on the Agenda for this meeting.

If you are exercising your right to speak at this meeting, but do not wish to be recorded, please inform the Chair who will instruct those taking a recording to cease while you speak.

There were no public questions or statements received.

Prior to the first item of business, the Chair expressed his disappointment that the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire was unable to attend the meeting as planned, particularly given the aspirations of the Combined Authority regarding economic development, regeneration and tourism that was an item on the agenda today. Other committee members highlighted the engagement work the Mayor had carried out with the Area Committees since his election and the Combined Authority Overview and Scrutiny committee that he attends regularly.

The Leader was in attendance at the meeting was asked to raise the concerns of the Chair with the Mayor.

Considered - Kathryn Daly, Assistant Director for Place Shaping and Growth, opened the session by outlining the purpose of the update and introducing colleagues Julian Rudd (Head of Regeneration- South and West) and Tony Watson (Head of Tourism).

It was explained that the covering report and accompanying documents aimed to give a high‑level overview of progress across economic development, regeneration and tourism, and to introduce emerging work on developing a prioritised pipeline of capital growth projects for North Yorkshire.

Kathryn Daly described the newly established Place Shaping and Growth service, which consolidates the economic development, regeneration, tourism, planning and building control services together. Its core role is to create the right conditions for sustainable economic growth by supporting job creation, enabling appropriate housing delivery, unlocking strategic sites, and attracting investment. She emphasised that national, regional and local strategies have shifted substantially, particularly following the recent formation of the York and North Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority, meaning the Council must be clear about its priorities to maximise future funding opportunities.

Tony Watson outlined key achievements to date: securing £131m in external funding following Local Government Reorganisation, delivering a successful small business grant scheme, running the first North Yorkshire Business Week, launching the Visit North Yorkshire website, adopting the Destination Management Plan, and rolling out the “More to North Yorkshire” tourism campaign. He also highlighted progress on major regeneration schemes including the Whitby Maritime Hub and Town Deal programmes.

Julian Rudd then set out the rationale for developing a focused and evidence‑based capital pipeline. He stressed the need to improve readiness for funding opportunities by identifying priority projects in areas of greatest economic need and opportunity, initially in Scarborough, Selby and Harrogate, and aligning employment, housing and transport schemes to support long‑term growth.

The team invited member feedback ahead of a report to the Executive.

Committee members then made the following comments:

·       Members welcomed the report and recognised the value of having a structured pipeline of projects, noting similarities with previous district‑level approaches but on a much larger strategic scale.

·       A suggestion was made for a two‑tier economic development model: encompassing a countywide strategic tier focused on major transport, industry and tourism; then a local tier focused on former district geographies, enabling smaller but impactful local projects.

·       Concern was expressed that the anticipated benefits of the Mayoral Combined Authority, particularly improved access to funding, had not yet fully materialised.

·       Members emphasised the need for strong communication channels between North Yorkshire Council, City of York Council, the Mayor of York and North Yorkshire and the Combined Authority to ensure clarity of roles and effective joint working.

·       Clarification was requested regarding the place‑based model set out in section 4.5. Officers explained the model is being delivered largely through 32 Town Investment Plans (TIPs) covering settlements of all sizes. Town Investment Plans will identify short, medium, and long‑term local priorities based on business and resident engagement.

·       Concerns were raised about Selby’s regeneration focus, including overly Abbey‑centric planning,  ...  view the full minutes text for item 64.

The committee debated a notice of motion concerning the long-standing proposal to dual the A64, a key strategic route linking York to Scarborough and the Yorkshire coast.

Members acknowledged that the A64 has been the subject of discussion for decades, with persistent concerns about congestion, safety, and its impact on economic growth and tourism. The road carries significant volumes of freight and visitor traffic, yet remains largely single carriageway, contributing to delays and a poor accident record.

Two amendments were proposed. The first from Councillor Liz Colling aimed to broaden the scope of the motions to include sustainable transport options such as rail, bus, and active travel. Members expressed differing views in the meeting on this proposal: supporters argued that investment in rail and bus services would deliver greater long-term benefits and align better with environmental objectives, whilst opponents stressed the urgency of addressing traffic congestion and safety risks on the A64 through dualling schemes. When put to a vote to include it as a recommendation back to full Council, this proposal was lost with 5 votes for, 9 votes against and 1 abstention.

The second amendment submitted by Councillor Steve Mason sought to make the first bullet point of the motion text more specific, by prioritising dualling from York to Malton as a first phase and then from Malton to Scarborough, subject to a positive cost benefit analysis. Supporters of this proposal highlighted that the existing road layout includes short sections of dual carriageway interspersed with single carriageway stretches, creating numerous bottlenecks and accident black spots such as at Whitwell-on-the-Hill. They suggested that a phased dualling approach targeting these problematic sections would strengthen the economic case and improve safety more effectively than a piecemeal dualling upgrade between Hopgrove and Barton le Willows. The discussion also touched on the potential for improved access to regional services from this approach, and the role of the A64 in supporting strategic employment sites and future housing growth both in the Ryedale and Scarborough areas. However, concerns were raised by committee members that specifying locations in the motion text could limit flexibility in the future and complicate lobbying efforts to central government. When put to the vote, this proposal was also lost with 7 votes for and 8 votes against.

Following this, the committee returned to the original motion and agreed to recommend the text as printed back to Full Council. Therefore, the resolved recommendation on the motion referred was:

That full Council considers the recommendation of the Transport, Economy, Environment and Enterprise Overview and Scrutiny Committee, namely to uphold the Motion as written regarding A64 dualling.

This council:

- Reiterates its support for the dualling of the A64;

- Agrees to write to the Mayor of York & North Yorkshire and the Members of Parliament for York Outer, Thirsk & Malton and Scarborough & Whitby requesting confirmation of their support for this essential upgrade;

- Commits to working on a cross-party basis with national and local political representatives to secure this essential upgrade at long last.  ...  view the full minutes text for item 65.

The committee considered a report on the draft Speed Management Strategy, which builds on the Council’s updated 20mph policy introduced in 2022. The new approach represents a cultural shift from the previous reactive system, where communities were required to request speed limit changes, to a more proactive programme of reviews across the county. This draft strategy aims to improve road safety and encourage active travel by creating safer conditions through lower speed limits. It was explained that the strategy is currently out for consultation with internal teams and external partners, including the police, fire service, and national parks.

In discussing the report, committee members raised significant concerns about delays in processing Traffic Regulation Orders (TROs), with examples given by committee members of cases taking up to three years. In response, officers explained that capacity issues have been flagged, and the committee stressed the need for additional legal resources to avoid bottlenecks in the system. The presenting officer confirmed that a digitised TRO process is expected nationally in 2026, which should help reduce delays, and the Council is exploring ways to streamline internal processes.

Members also discussed the criteria for prioritising schemes, noting that reliance on collision data alone is insufficient. There were calls for greater weight to be given to community feedback, population density, and the potential for active travel. Questions were also raised about how near misses and local concerns would be factored in, and whether enforcement measures such as cameras would be considered. The presenting officer assured the committee that the strategy would adopt a holistic approach, including education and engineering alongside enforcement, and that community engagement would be central to the process. The committee welcomed the cultural shift set out in the draft strategy towards proactive reviews, but emphasised the importance of a clear assessment criteria, ongoing communication with residents throughout the process and robust consultation methods.

It was resolved that the comments and feedback received on the draft NYC Speed Management Strategy be considered and incorporated where possible ahead of seeking approval from the Environment Executive.

The proposed corporate Enforcement Policy was considered. It aims to harmonise the legacy district and borough council policies into a single framework for North Yorkshire Council. The officer attending explained that the broad policy sets out key principles such as fairness, proportionality and collaboration, and seeks to position the Council as a confident regulator that supports communities while ensuring businesses comply with the law.

Members strongly supported the need for consistency on enforcement but raised concerns about the emphasis on prioritising cases deemed “the most serious”, warning that smaller breaches often cause significant frustration for residents and undermine confidence in the system. Examples of these smaller breaches included unauthorised fences, retrospective planning applications, and long-standing enforcement delays. The committee argued that enforcement must be consistent and without fear or favour, with sufficient staff resource allocated to address these lower-level issues as well as major cases and suggested defining a proportion of enforcement capacity for such matters. Communication was another key theme raised, with committee members calling for better updates on enforcement cases as the local representatives and exploring options for publishing public registers to improve transparency. Members also highlighted the need for increased levels of legal resource across all areas of enforcement to support a future policy, with concerns raised that failure to provide a suitable level of support would undermine deadlines and effective enforcement protocols.

In response to the discussion, the officer confirmed that planning service colleagues are developing a specific enforcement policy to sit beneath the corporate framework and acknowledged the importance of legal support for effective enforcement. Members also discussed the potential use of technology such as cameras, to strengthen enforcement in areas like traffic restrictions.

The committee welcomed the overall direction of the policy, but stressed that its success will depend on adequate resourcing, clear service standards, and robust communication with both councillors and communities.

The committee considered a bi-annual update on progress against the Council’s Climate Change Strategy through the Delivery Pathway. The covering report noted that global temperatures and greenhouse gas levels continue to rise, but locally, North Yorkshire’s ‘territorial emissions’ are reducing, although challenges remain in sectors such as agriculture and residential heating.

Key developments since the last update include work on a comprehensive ‘Climate Risk and Vulnerability’ assessment with partners, with a final report expected in early 2026, and progress on reducing operational emissions. It was highlighted that the Council has improved its data collection on energy use and is moving towards single energy and water contracts to streamline monitoring. Furthermore, gas consumption has fallen, and further work is underway to decarbonise the fleet and reduce grey fleet mileage.

Members welcomed these steps but pressed for clearer milestones and time-bound targets, noting the Council’s commitment to achieve net zero for our own operations by 2030. There were also calls for stronger integration of climate objectives into the economic development plans discussed earlier on the meeting, as well as into procurement processes.

The discussion widened to cover peatland restoration, with members emphasising its importance for carbon storage and biodiversity, and concerns about the pace of adaptation planning given recent extreme weather events. A briefing note was requested to update committee members on progress. Questions were also raised about the viability of retrofitting new homes, the role of planning policy in the climate strategy, and the need for directorate-level accountability. Members also debated the relevance of external benchmarking by campaign groups, with mixed views on its value. The committee agreed that climate considerations must be embedded across all services and highlighted the need for political leadership to accelerate progress.

Following this, it was resolved to:

i)               Acknowledge the progress related to the implementation of the Climate Change Delivery Pathway

ii)              Note the contents of the report and the feedback given be taken into account when preparing future updates on the Climate Change Delivery Pathway.

It was resolved to note the Progress on Issues Raised report.

Considered -

The work programme was noted.

Any other items which the Chair agrees should be considered as a matter of urgency because of special circumstances.

There were no further items for consideration.