SENIOR leaders of North Yorkshire County Council have paid tribute to Cllr John Blackie, crusading member for the Upper Dales and champion of the resilience and ingenuity of rural communities, who sadly died this weekend.

Cllr Blackie, who was also a member of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, led the Independent group on the county council and has been a member since 1997. He was a passionate and intrepid representative for the Upper Dales communities. He was tireless in his fight to keep “deeply” rural areas sustainable and a resolute campaigner to maintain effective local services.

Cllr Carl Les, North Yorkshire County Council’s leader said: “Our thoughts must go firstly to his family and close friends. He and I joined the Council at the same time so shared many of the same experiences and circumstances. He was tireless in his advocacy of the place where he lived. Not Dales born and bred, although sometimes it was hard to think he wasn’t, he had come from the Home Counties and fell in love with the Upper Dales, its communities and people.

“His energy was all the more remarkable because of the serious medical issues he faced. But he didn’t just shout out about the local challenges, he met them head on with innovative solutions now being copied across the country.”