Causes of the crisis in the Dales

A YEAR ago, The Yorkshire Post reported that the Dales National Park was facing the biggest crisis in its history, amid a perfect storm of social and economic pressures.

Intense challenges posed by the affordable homes crisis, a reliance on subsidised, community-led public transport and an economy that relied on the poorly paid sectors of tourism and upland farming, were said to be at risk of worsening for decades to come.

A five-year vision to shape the future of the Dales had as its key aim the creation of living and working conditions to attract young families and reduce a widening gap between numbers of young and older residents.