National parks see off ‘crackers’ government proposal

A collaboration between the Yorkshire Dales and other national parks which helped see off government proposals to allow barns, shops, offices and cafes in protected landscapes into homes without planning consent has been heralded.

A meeting of the North York Moors National Park Authority heard the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) had confirmed the controversial scheme it consulted on last summer had been dropped, partly due to the strength of the responses from those managing the North Yorkshire protected landscapes.

The proposals would have allowed existing barns and other rural buildings to be converted to up to ten houses per unit without the need to apply for planning permission.

Impetus for the proposal was linked to the Government abandoning housing targets and an attempt to find ways to increase housebuilding in the face of a national housing shortage and following strong lobbying from landowning interests.

Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority chief executive David Butterworth, had warned the proposal would mean up to 6,500 field barns across the 841sq mile area could be converted into homes, “decimating” the landscapes.

He added: “If I was trying to devise a policy that would essentially lead to the destruction of Yorkshire Dales National Park, this would be the policy. It is just crackers.”

The meeting was told the North York Moors authority had argued the proposals would have a large landscape impact and would not meet local needs due to high prices.

In addition, the authority told the government the converted properties could not be restricted to prevent them becoming holiday homes and that the loss of shops, cafes and offices would have a significant impact on the rural economy.

About 30 parishes across the North York Moors had objected to the proposals alongside National Parks England.
The meeting heard the previous Government had confirmed the abandonment of the proposals was also due to the Levellng Up Act creating a duty to further national park purposes.

North York Moors park officers credited their Yorkshire Dales counterparts with having delivered a blow for the proposals by showing Defra officials a photo of a Swaledale field featuring about 60 barns which could have been converted into homes.

The authority’s director of planning, Chris France, said: “It would have made a nonsense of the planning system.”

Malcolm Bowes, the authority’s deputy chair, congratulated officers for their role in seeing off the proposals, saying it was an excellent example of collaborative working to achieve the best outcome for the national park.