Senior county councillors have today backed awarding the tourism organisation Welcome to Yorkshire up to £200,000 to host the Tour de Yorkshire.
It comes after Amaury Sports Organisation, which is part of a French media group that owns the event and co-organises it with Welcome to Yorkshire, said last week it would not cover the costs of the race.
This has prompted the council to offer Welcome to Yorkshire up to £200,000 to stage the race next May in the hope it will boost tourism.
Read more:
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- Welcome to Yorkshire posts losses of £200,000
- 2021 Tour de Yorkshire cancelled
Senior county councillors approved a payment of £100,000 to fund the event and to set aside a further £100,000 to underwrite any failure to secure sponsorship.
Council bosses said the money set aside would only be paid if Welcome to Yorkshire make a “final evidenced request”.
Cllr Gareth Dadd, deputy leader of the county council, said at a meeting of the authority’s executive today:
“We have a leadership responsibility in North Yorkshire and I know that one or two of the district and borough councils have shown their support by passing a similar recommendation.
“But as the principle authority, I think we have a duty to support anything that could have potential benefits to tourism.”
Cllr Dadd added that a review of the race would be carried out to determine the benefits to the county of holding it.
Welcome to Yorkshire has requested funding from numerous local authorities which are host towns for the race in case it fails to get sponsorship.
Harrogate Borough Council is not one of them but Harrogate district people will still fund the event through the portion of their council tax payments that goes to North Yorkshire County Council.
If all the payments are approved, Yorkshire taxpayers could underwrite the event by up to £900,000.
