Business and Environmental Services
North Yorkshire County Council is committed to making the County a place where people enjoy living and working by raising awareness and promoting local initiatives which balance social, economic and environmental issues.
As the highways authority it maintains over 6,000 miles of roads, provides and maintains hundreds of bridges, other activities include road, lighting, traffic management, road safety and public rights of way outside the national parks.
Planning & Countryside Unit
Policy Development - Develops and implements strategic policies in relation to land use planning, sustainable development and major environmental activity and contributes to the development of policy at the regional and sub-regional level.
Countryside Service - Comprises two sections, Public Rights of Way and Heritage and Environment. Public Rights of Way maintain, manage and develop the public rights of way network in North Yorkshire. The Heritage and Environment section provides advice and guidance on landscape design, building conservation, archaeology, biodiversity and ecology. They work in partnership with other organisations to support the Nidderdale and Howardian Hills Areas of Outstanding Natural Beauty and other partnerships and projects. They manage and maintain the Historic Environment Record and manage the Sites of Importance for Nature Conservation programme and coordinate the preparation and delivery of Biodiversity Action Plans.
Minerals and Waste Planning - Prepares and processes planning applications for mineral and waste and for County Council developments.
Information Communication Technology - Delivers the e-Government agenda and advises of the procurement ICT issues.
Highways and Transportation - As the highways authority it maintains over 6,000 miles of roads, provides and maintains hundreds of bridges, other activities include road, lighting, traffic management, road safety and public rights of way outside the national parks.
Highway Operations - Manages highway functions form implementing local traffic management schemes and development control in seven area offices at Richmond, Thirsk, Whitby, Kirkbymoorside, Skipton, Starbeck and Selby. This includes resurfacing, reconstruction and surface dressing, an emergency repair service, grass cutting and Winter service including snow clearing and salting of priority routes.
Contract Management Unit - Manages the contract for professional services provided to the Directorate by private sector engineering consultants, Jacobs UK and private sector contractor Balfour Beattie Infrastructure services.
Integrated Passenger Transport Group - Promotes and supports public transport services and organise transport contracts for Schools and Adult Services.
Waste Management Service - Arranges the recycling and disposal of waste collected by district councils. The unit is also responsible for the network of 20 household waste recycling centres where residents of the County can take their bulky household waste for reuse, recycling, composting or safe disposal. The unit also makes sure that the old landfill sites don’t cause pollution to the environment. An important area of work is providing practical advice on how to reduce waste and how to recycle more and this is often through targeted communication campaigns. Research is also carried out to identify how and why waste composition is changing so that we can plan ahead for the future. The unit also develops waste strategy and policy for the county council, and works with the district councils to deliver services cost-effectively. To meet the challenges of waste and to deliver national targets, the unit is also working on delivering new ways of treating waste through the procurement of new sorting, bulking and treatment plant.
Business Support Unit - provides a range of support services to the Corporate Director and Business Units, including finance, personnel, administration and word processing.
