HELPING the region's economy to grow post Covid-19 was the hot topic of the latest meeting of North Yorkshire's Rural Commissioners.

The panel was able to safely hold it's monthly meeting thanks to video conferencing and they discussed how best to help the region's businesses cope with the repercussions of the coronavirus pandemic.

Commission Chair The Very Rev John Dobson said: “The impact of coronavirus is being felt across every aspect of life in North Yorkshire and is changing how we think about the county, but not what we need to do to make our communities grow and prosper in the future.”

The commissioners are tasked with coming up with a series of recommendations to help reverse decline and support prosperity across the county’s most rural areas.

The panel had already heard broad-ranging evidence on topics including farming, food and the environment, and most recently, housing, before its work was temporarily paused by the impact of Covid-19.

Speaking during their first online meeting, commissioner Sir William Worsley – who is also Chair of the Forestry Commission – said: “Across every aspect of our work there will be a post-Covid-19 dimension to be considered.

"This adds a complexity and some problems but the outbreak has also demonstrated clearly our resilience and values.

"Things will not be the same again but we have seen how it is to work remotely and still be effective, to travel less and to see the positive impact on the environment, to see businesses diversify their manufacturing to support PPE needs and shops go online to continue to serve their customers.

"We will need to focus on the enablers required to sustain some of these looking ahead.”

During the session, the commissioners took some time to consider the current impacts of the national lockdown and to review the evidence they had been presented with relating to the topic of the economy and jobs.

Commissioner Heather Hancock was clear the national emergency is presenting significant opportunities to learn from an economic perspective.

She said: “North Yorkshire’s economy is based on SME’s (small and medium enterprises) many of which have little resilience financially.

"But we also have a huge offer to families looking for a new way of life outside of the big cities and employers nationally who can see that a remote workforce can still be just as effective and productive.

"Many will review their office rationale and look at the financial and environmental benefits of less commutes to work.

"We must look at what this could mean for our county and how we can grasp any opportunities while ensuring there is a balanced and diverse economy here.”

Closing the session Dean John concluded: “We remain very clear on what we want to achieve and very much focused on finishing our work."