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14
Sept 2022
North Yorkshire County Council looks poised to dismiss moves by Green and Liberal Democrat councillors to accelerate the response to thr climate change and biodiversity crises, claiming they could be counter-productive.
The council’s Conservative-run executive will consider two environmental notices of motion that councillors were prevented from debating at a full council meeting in July, with the authority’s chairman instead opting to refer the proposals to its cabinet members.
Both motions propose the establishment of a new committee specifically to scrutinise the council’s progress and leadership in tackling climate change and establishing biodiversity plans to ensure oversight of the collective ambition of the council.
Since losing its overwhelming majority at the May elections, the Tory-led council has been facing mounting pressure, particularly from the Liberal Democrat and Green groups, to redouble its climate change and biodiversity efforts and allow opposition councillors to play a greater role in shaping such policies.
An officers’ report to the executive states the creation of a new scrutiny committee would take the number of such forums at the council to seven.
The council’s Conservative leader, Cllr Carl Les said the executive’s debate and recommendations to the next full meeting of the authority in November would focus on how the authority could best manage the impacts of climate change.
He said:
When asked if the decision to reject specialist climate change roles and groups at the council was politically-fuelled, Cllr Les said:
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