Wanted – your views on local transport

Barry White

North Yorkshire residents are being asked to share their travel habits in a bid to shape a transport strategy across North Yorkshire over the coming decades. A survey was launched on Monday 22 May to gather information for the first draft of the new Local Transport Plan which aims to guide the development and management of travel infrastructure across the county.

The plan will look at all aspects of the region’s transport, including road, rail, bus, cycling and walking. It will be developed by the new North Yorkshire Council, which launched last month, alongside City of York Council. It will allow the council to continue to bid for funding which aims to deliver the infrastructure needed to better connect residents, unlock economic growth, and promote sustainability.

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Settle area prepares for local energy club

Sarah Wiltshire

Our energy group has been preparing for the setting up of a local energy club over the last 12 months. Following a three-stage consultation involving the public and key local interests last year, a Local Energy Plan was produced showing the potential to sustainably generate a good proportion of the electricity needs in Settle, Giggleswick and Langcliffe – the club area being determined by the the geographical coverage of the relevant electricity sub station see: http://acesettleandarea.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/12/LAEP-Final-12-12-22.pdf

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Brexit deal must be renegotiated or UK motor operations could close

Barry White

News has broken that Vauxhall and Fiat manufacturer Stellantis has urged the government to renegotiate rules in the Brexit trade deal that it says could now force it to shut some of its UK operations, putting thousands of jobs at risk. This comes just two years after the future of its electric car plants in Ellesmere Port and Luton were believed to be safe. However, it now says it can no longer meet rules in the Brexit trade deal signed by Boris Johnson that require 45% of parts by value to be sourced in the UK or EU by 2024. More at: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/17/vauxhall-maker-says-brexit-deal-must-be-renegotiated-or-it-could-shut-uk-plant

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Planning system changes needed to promote home energy efficiency

Dr. Suzy Nelson, University of Westminster.

To meet the UK Government’s targets to reduce the emission of greenhouse gases from our homes and to address the cost of living crisis there needs to be a major programme to upgrade the energy efficiency of our homes. This involves improvements both to the fabric of homes and to the systems for controlling their internal temperature and moisture levels.

Lack of funding and shortage of skills are major obstacles to the implementation of retrofit projects on the scale needed. Through my involvement in the Architects Climate Action Network, I became aware that obtaining planning permission was another issue holding back retrofit projects, so I decided to investigate the extent to which this was a problem.

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