Rural planners win in battle to preserve Dales homes for locals

Planners in the Yorkshire Dales have fought off attempts by a developer to overturn restrictions they had imposed to prevent new houses being sold as holiday homes or second properties.

Developer Kerrowmere had argued that the restrictions break UK and European law as well as the Human Rights Act.

But an independent planning inspector has now ruled in favour of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Richard Graham, the YDNPA’s head of development management, said: “The planning inspector’s decision is very good news.

“It supports the objective of the National Park Authority and our local partners to provide a stock of housing that can only be occupied by local people wanting to live in the area where they work or were born and brought up.

“The need for affordable housing in the national park has never been greater and it is vital that our policy of restricting occupancy of new homes remains intact.”

The row centred on the building of five new homes in the picturesque Dales village of Austwick where planning permission was granted on condition that they are only occupied by local people.

Isle of Man-based Kerrowmere claimed the houses would be impossible to sell if ownership was restricted to local people.

National Park Authority Chris Armitage said: “Over the last 12 months the Authority has approved 95 per cent of applications.

“We work very hard to ensure that we only refuse permission where there are strong grounds to do so.”

The Yorkshire Post was unable to contact Kerrowmere last night.