Over the next five years, we'll be investing £3.5 billion into Yorkshire to support a huge capital programme, over 1,000 local businesses and many thousands of local jobs. For every £1 we spend we'll generate almost double this in terms of economic activity in Yorkshire. Read on to find out what this means for North Yorkshire...
Investing in North Yorkshire - a bit of history
Over the past decade, through our £120 million CoastCare investment programme, we revolutionised the way we treat waste water at towns and villages along the East Coast.
We've installed ultra-violet disinfection - the ultimate in sewage treatment technology - to clean up our discharges in Scarborough and Whitby. The quality of the waste water we now return to the North Sea goes way beyond the current standards required by European legislation.
Last year, this area boasted six European Blue Flags - a feat that could not have been achieved had our bathing waters not been of an excellent quality. We're proud of the contribution we've made and the knock-on effect for tourism, but our work is not yet done.
We're going for excellent!
Between 2010-2015 we'll be investing millions more to meet the new, higher quality standards, demanded by the Revised Bathing Water Directive - a new piece of legislation that is setting new standards for the quality of local bathing waters.
Not many people realise it, but we play a massive part in helping to keep Yorkshire's coastal bathing waters clean. In fact, Yorkshire's bathing waters are now the cleanest they've ever been, largely thanks to our multi-million pound investment.
The new Bathing Water Directive (BWD) comes into force in 2015 and requires an 'excellent' standard to be met for bathing water quality before Blue Flag certificates can be considered.
We have a significant role to play in helping the East Coast achieve the higher 'excellent' standard. We want to see more blue flags on the East Coast and have secured £110m of funding to ensure we play our part in delivering excellent bathing water quality at our designated beaches.
See what our Chief Executive, Richard Flint thinks about our plans.
Making a clear difference
Our customers tell us that ensuring a safe, reliable and good quality clean water supply to their homes should be our top priority. We're always looking at new ways to ensure that this happens.
We'll be maintaining and improving our water treatment sites to ensure that they not only meet modern requirements, but also employ the most innovative and efficient processes.
