North York Moors' planning chiefs accused of double standards after allowing development to support stately home

The North York Moors National Park Authority was responding after residents of Coxwold spoke out over its approval of a housing scheme to help fund the restoration of a nearby stately home, Newburgh Priory, which is said to be the final resting place of Oliver Cromwell.

To fund repairs to the Grade I listed former Augustinian priory, its ancestral owners, the Wombwell family, had applied to build four “principal residence” homes in an area of nearby Coxwold. Residents said the development would heighten flood risk, ruin views and spoil the village’s character.

Moira Fulton, who has lived in the village for 38 years, said by approving the scheme, the authority had ignored “all their own planning regulations which are normally very strictly enforced on ordinary people”.

Want more countryside and rural news? Join our dedicated Facebook groupShe said: “Giving permission to Newburgh to build despite all planning regulations was another example of the Dominic Cummings syndrome, one rule for one. Obviously planning regulations do not apply when you are a large landowner.”

Coxwold residents said the housing development would set a precedent for further developments in the village as it was passed on the basis that a Grade I listed building needed finances for its upkeep and that it would bring about affordable housing.

Chris France, the director of planning for the authority, said the decision had reflected its new Local Plan approach to housing in villages. The plan allows an appropriate increase in housing to help offset the National Park’s population loss, which has been a concern for some 20 years.

He said the Newburgh Priory decision was an exception to its normal policies.

But Mr France stressed that the aim of the development was to generate funding for Newburgh Priory, which, although just outside the boundary of the National Park, was part of its cultural heritage.

Mr France added that there had only been a small conflict with the authority’s policy, which would normally have allowed for two rather than four houses, and that it was part of a wider scheme which would deliver three affordable properties.

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