Barn conversions within the Yorkshire Dales National Park should be only for local occupancy and not short-term holiday lets, Askrigg parish councillor Allen Kirkbride told the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee this week.
Cllr Kirkbride, who is a parish council representative on the authority, said: “The Yorkshire Dales National Park is just full of holiday cottages and somehow within the new local plan we have got to try and make these barn conversions for local people only.”
The chairman of the planning committee, Julie Martin, commented: “Yes, I think we are all aware it’s something we need to reconsider.”
The committee was considering an application to convert Tom’s Barn at the eastern end of Appersett for a local occupancy dwelling or a holiday let.
Hawes and High Abbotside Parish Council had objected because it only supports barn conversions if they are for local occupancy as it believes there are enough holiday lets in the area.
The planning officer informed the committee that the parish council’s objection was not sustainable.
He told the committee that approval had been given in July 2019 for the barn to be converted into a three-bedroom local occupancy dwelling or short-term holiday accommodation.
The latest application was necessary, he said, as the owners had proposed a number of changes to the original plans, including reducing the number of bedrooms to two.
This, he added, will allow the living and dining space at one end to be full height and so better retain the agricultural character of the interior.
Member Jim Munday said that the latest plans would make for a better conversion.
The majority of the members voted to approve the application.
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I’m getting the feeling that anything which will bring in the tourists is fine with NYCC and the National Park. We’re going to end up like the Lake District – overrun, with local people driven out through necessity (lack of affordable housing) or choice (looking for somewhere quieter) It’s not that long ago a local family applied to renovate a ruined house (or maybe it was a barn) for their own use and it was refused. This was in the National Park. There are plans in for our local village to create holiday chalets and I’ve heard rumours the planning will get through because it’s for tourists – who wander about at will with no regard for footpaths or private land. Instead of tourist accommodation, we’d be better off with an affordable housing application.
I struggle to understand how the planning committee can dictate how the interior of a building should look like ? If the aim is to keep the traditional appearance of a barn so that visitors and residents view it as they pass I can see that to some extent but they won’t have the right to go to look inside the building so why does the planning committee have a right to dictate how many bedrooms or whether the room is floor to ceiling height ?? Building regulations and safety .. yes.. someone who will never be able to legally wander into the building without permission deciding how many bedrooms you can have ???? Really ???