Row breaks out over planning rules for barns in Yorkshire Dales

The Yorkshire Dales' distinctive agricultural landscape is being threatened by the very group responsible for its conservation, it has been claimed.
But some members of the authority believe the biggest threat to the park is its declining populationBut some members of the authority believe the biggest threat to the park is its declining population
But some members of the authority believe the biggest threat to the park is its declining population

As the Friends of the Dales accused members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority of failing to protect the area’s architecturally and historically important stone barns, the authority’s officers warned members they could be acting unlawfully.

But some members of the authority, who are either elected councillors or appointed by the Government, believe the biggest threat to the park is its declining population and providing affordable homes to ensure local families are not displaced from communities must be paramount.

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While 81 conversions of the park’s 4,500 barns have received planning permission since rules were relaxed in 2015 to ease conversions of barns into housing for local people or into holiday lets, only one scheme has been refused by the authority.

Amid mounting concerns for the traditional features and in an unusual move, officers have told the 17-member planning committee that if it approves Wensleydale and Swaledale barn conversion schemes next week, the monitoring officer would have to report the committee’s “unlawful” actions to the full authority.

The warning follows members saying they were minded to approve the barn conversions near Hawes, Appersett and Reeth, despite officers warning the schemes would have a “significant harmful impact”.

Members have said the barn conversion scheme near Hawes met the authority’s policies and was acceptable as it was sited within a community.

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But officers said members appeared to have “misinterpreted” the authority’s policies as the barn was more than 200m from Hawes and granting the scheme would leave the planning committee “in a position where it has difficulty in refusing other applications”.

Officers said the other barn schemes failed to meet other policies designed to meet the authority’s statutory first purpose – to conserve the national park.

Mark Corner, chairman of Friends of the Dales, said the conservation charity was “acutely concerned at the significant harmful impact on the landscape and scenic beauty of the Dales”.

But Upper Dales councillor and planning committee member John Blackie said: “I hope my fellow members will stand firm and let the Secretary of State decide whether the barn conversions are approved because the future of the communities depend on it.”

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Until recently, residential conversion of barns – most of which were built between the 16th and 19th centuries to enable cattle to be kept and fed with hay in the upland area over winter – had been confined to those within settlements.

After exempting national parks from relaxed rules for agricultural buildings conversion into homes in 2013, the Government told national parks to take a proactive approach to the applications.

In response, the Yorkshire Dales authority launched policies to allow barn conversions for residential use at suitable roadside locations and in other groups of buildings.