Tour de Yorkshire ‘puts region on map’

A SENIOR councillor has defended the sums of money spent by the region’s local authorities on the Tour de Yorkshire.

Town halls are facing calls to further examine the benefits of staging the international cycling race, after organisers announced more than two million spectators turned out for the fourth staging of the event.

It is understood costs for the towns and cities hosting starts and finishes of the four-day race are up to £250,000, while North Yorkshire County Council has spent £180,000 on the race for the last two years.

For councils where the race passes through their area, the costs can still mount up to tens of thousands of pounds.

Leader of the county council’s Labour group Coun Eric Broadbent said that given the financial pressures on front-line services, there should be greater consideration of whether it should be solely sponsored by firms alongside a thorough review of the benefits for residents “as would be done for any other outlay of public money”. In response, Coun Don MacKenzie, the county council’s executive member for highways, said many of the benefits the race brought, such as community cohesion and the feel-good factor, were unquantifiable. He said: “It puts Yorkshire on the map. Two days after the race people are still talking about the Tour de Yorkshire and some fantastic photographs are being beamed out all over the world.”