Revised plans including a new access road have been filed for a controversial holiday scheme near a popular North Yorkshire walking route.
A new planning application has been submitted to North Yorkshire Council for eight cabins beside a footpath near the River Swale on the so-called Easby Loop, between Richmond and Easby Abbey.
A previous application submitted by Nicholas and Autumn Green, who own the St Nicholas Estate, on Maison Dieu, Richmond, was rejected by officers for various reasons.
These included concerns over access along a narrow track above the River Swale, which is regularly used by walkers.
Supporting documents submitted with the new application say the revised plans address these concerns.
The documents state: “Access via Easby Low Road has been removed from the design, using instead a new access route across the applicant’s land from Easby High Road to ensure the Easby Loop walk remains unimpacted.
“The visual and landscape amenity of the site has been upgraded by becoming a fully car-free site beyond the parking area, removal of the green security fence, and planting of a significantly denser (5-7m thick) multi-layered vegetation screen along the full length of the adjacent footpath.”
New information has also been provided to address officers’ concerns that the scheme would harm the Richmond and Easby conservation areas.
The document notes: “It is considered this fuller evidence now supports a finding of neutral impact and no harm to the conservation areas.
“The key heritage consideration of note is instead the impact of the new private access road upon the setting of Easby Abbey.
“The relevant field is assessed as having a very small contribution to the significance of the abbey, and the access road is considered to represent a small magnitude of change.
“This assessment supports a finding of neutral impact and no harm to the Easby Conservation Area or Easby Abbey.”
The original application attracted almost 70 objections, with a small number of people so far submitting concerns about the revised plans.
One local resident said: “The access road being proposed would, firstly, add an obvious further traffic hazard at the top end of the road to Easby, as it would complicate an existing acutely angled junction that already requires great care from drivers as it joins the road from Richmond towards Brompton.
“Secondly, the proposed access road would clearly damage the view currently enjoyed by the very many Richmond residents who walk the highly popular Easby Loop path along the Easby side of the Swale.”
Another objector argues that the new plans still harm the conservation areas.
“These elements will alter the rural character of the valley floor and contribute to harm to the setting of these heritage assets,” they say.
The site of the proposed cabins is near the Drummer Boy Stone which according to local legend marks the spot where a military drummer boy vanished in a tunnel between Richmond Castle and Easby Abbey.
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Stop this blight on our beautiful landscape. Our natural spaces are under constant threat from people who only see these areas as a money making opportunity.