The proposed agreement to hand over powers from Whitehall to North Yorkshire and York in the first devolution deal for rural area presents an “excellent opportunity” for agriculture, tourism and environment in the North York Moors National Park, a meeting has heard.

North York Moors National Park Authority chief executive Tom Hind said as the protected area stood to gain a share of an annual £18m extra government funding, as well as opportunities to work with a combined authority and mayor, the proposed deal represented “a good deal for York and North Yorkshire”.

The authority had previously signalled its support in principle for a devolution

deal, provided its statutory planning powers are protected.

Mr Hind was speaking at a full meeting of the authority ahead of a consultation being launched next month to consider a spectrum of views over the deal for the area which is home to about 46,000 businesses and a population of around 818,000.

Subject to the consultation results and feedback to central government, a new combined authority for North Yorkshire and York is expected to be established next autumn, with elections to the position of mayor in May 2024.

He said the deal would provide opportunities to deliver some of the key goals set for the national park, and in particular in developing skills and sustainable transport.

Mr Hind said the proposed natural capital investment plan, which the national park authorities have helped develop, as part of the deal had been a “groundbreaking piece of work” to examine how much funding was needed to improve the environment and achieve net zero carbon emissions.

Another area of potential in the deal for the national park is its support the public-private partnership BioYorkshire’s innovation cluster programme, which is working transform the region’s economy through high grade research and translation facilities.

The meeting heard members underline the importance of ensuring extra money to develop housing is not purely focused on brownfield sites in urban areas and the pressing need to support and improve public transport in and around the national park.

The park authority’s longest serving member, David Jeffels, said while many upland farmers in the area had struggled for many years, the proposed deal offered “encouragement in terms of diversification” as well as a potential boost to tourism, upon which the park’s economy is also heavily dependent.

He said: “This does present us with a golden opportunity to take what is on offer and turn it to the advantage of the national park.

“Improving the economy in the park is important for the environment and moorland. If we have got a thriving farming industry with diversification, hopefully from that will come better transport links and a more affluent community.”