Kevin Hollinrake MP on Haxby Station funding set back

IN the small hours of July 5, the people of Thirsk and Malton gave me the privilege of once again returning to Westminster as their Member of Parliament.

Since then, I have been getting on with the job holding surgeries, campaigning on the things that matter most to people across our area and holding the new Government to account in my new role as Shadow Secretary of State for Business and Trade.

Among other things I look forward to continuing to fight for are the sub postmasters and for businesses across the United Kingdom but particularly here in Yorkshire.

To help me with this I have recently launched a new business survey to help me get an even better understanding of the issues affecting local enterprise. The survey is available through my website (www.kevinhollinrake.org.uk) and I would be grateful if you took the opportunity to fill it out and provide your feedback.

There is, though, little point in pretending that the last few weeks have been easy for my party. Due to the diminished number of my colleagues who now sit on the opposition benches we have limited scope to influence the new Government's legislative agenda. We need to reconnect with the country and fight for the right to sit on the Government benches once again. As I said in my victory speech we must "make sure we rebuild as a decent, compelling centre-right alternative to the current government. Difficult times, but very confident that we will once again be seen as the party that offers opportunity, prosperity and security for all".

As we embark on the path to selecting a new leader, I am keen to ensure that my fellow Conservatives don’t forget the Levelling Up agenda that we pursued in Government. While we are now undoubtedly a more southern-based parliamentary party we must recommit and redouble our efforts to ensure as I will that we get a fairer deal for the North.

That fight has already begun - we all know better transport connectivity is key if we are to unlock the full economic potential of our region which is why I am so disappointed one of the first acts of this Government has been to pull funding for local transport projects like Haxby Station. If this Government is serious about growing the economy and getting our nation building again then they need to put their money where their mouth is and push forward with key local transport projects. I will use this Parliament to push for better connectivity across Thirsk and Malton, including the continuing with my campaigns to dual the A64 and to reinstate the Filey Town Bus. In recent weeks I have had several productive meetings in Filey and am looking to meet with Ryedale Community Transport in the weeks ahead.

Since the election the new Government has also made several other announcements on development which I know will cause concern. Since Putin's invasion of Ukraine and the subsequent fall out there has rightly been a renewed focus on our nation's food security. In North Yorkshire farmers, food producers and the whole agricultural sector make sure that households across the nation have high quality, affordable food on their table all year round. They can only provide for the nation if they have the best quality land to farm. So, it is concerning that within days in office Ed Miliband approved thousands of acres of new solar farms across the country giving speculative developers the green light to put panels on our most productive land. This move will cause particular alarm to the hundreds of constituents of mine opposed to the solar project at Eden Farm, Old Malton which is currently going through an appeal process. Should the solar farm be given the go ahead the Sturdy family, tenant farmers for generations, will effectively lose their farm and livelihood and some of our best quality land will be lost to production. Like many, I am not anti-solar, but I want to see a rooftops and brownfield first approach which will ensure we get the green power we need without damaging the countryside.

Likewise, Angela Rayner’s plans for a 300 per cent increase in housing building numbers across North Yorkshire is simply not deliverable, desirable or sustainable. I fully accept that we need to build more homes and have often championed house building in Parliament but what we need are first time homes for local people who can often struggle in the competitive and comparatively expensive local market. I have reservations that arbitrary targets like those brought in by the Government will land us up with the wrong homes for the wrong people in the wrong places. But if we are to have to accept the Government's target we will need to see significant infrastructure investment which the Government must provide. It must therefore be local authorities who make decisions building genuinely affordable homes for local people. They are also best placed to make decisions about the provision of the services that local people need.

As my party and the country look to build for the future, my constituents can be assured that I will work cross party, including with our elected mayor to make sure that our area gets the homes, transport and infrastructure it needs to thrive.