'It reminds me of Pontins' - Yorkshire village plans likened to 'ugly holiday park'
Plans to build on a former tennis court in a Yorkshire Dales village have been rejected after the development was likened to an ugly holiday park.
Members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) planning committee this week agreed with officers and voted against the proposal for Winterburn, near Skipton.
The application was for a live-work dwelling and five garages to the rear of 1-5 Winterburn Cottages.
The tennis court, where the buildings are proposed, has been used most recently as a builder’s compound.
The proposed single storey building with a shallow, mono-pitch roof would contain the proposed live/work unit and garages.
The meeting on Tuesday at the authority’s headquarters in Bainbridge heard how officers felt the application did not contain enough evidence that a business unit with living accommodation was needed to manage the seven existing holiday lets.
Member Yvonne Peacock said she supported the application because it was supporting a local business.
But committee member Richard Foster described the application as “confusing”.
He added: “We appear to have a set of garages whose main objective is to hold solar panels, because I’ve never really seen anybody come to a holding cottage and go ‘oh where’s the garage for this property’.
“If this was a farm, we would want a business case for tying a new build property to that, so I’ve got an issue there as well.
“While I agree that it’s a business and there’s a potential there, I would like to understand more what the garages are actually the purpose of.”
Member Derek Twine also voiced concerns about the proposal.
He said: “We’ve expected and asked for a business case and we don’t have that in terms of the accommodation approach.
“There are implications here that says that there could be a business case but it’s not up to us to write that or to assume it.”
He added: “For me the design at the moment certainly is not in keeping and it is totally different from the previous application we considered.”
Committee member Mark Corner raised concerns about the appearance of the development.
He said: “From what I can see, it looks very ugly. It reminds me of, if people can remember a Pontins or Butlins.
“If we’re going to build something here, it needs to be in keeping with the vernacular.”
Members voted to reject the application after the debate.