Pip’s Patch

ARC News Service: Decisions made by the YDNPA planning committee at the meeting on Tuesday, October 11 concerning Arcow Quarry near Horton in Ribblesdale;  a camp site  and hard-standings at Kettlewell; solar panels on a farmhouse at Burnsall; a new house at Reeth; Spen House at Askrigg; and the caravan site at West Witton.

Arcow Quarry near Horton in Ribblesdale . – Tarmac Ltd was given permission to continue extracting stone from Arcow Quarry for another three and a half years. And it was understood that Tarmac may apply for an additional 10 years. This will mean that instead of work finishing at the quarry by the end of this year and the restoration of the site being completed by December 2012, Tarmac will continue extracting Silurian gritsone (greywacke) until 2025.

About 45 people and organisations had objected to there being any extension, including the Campaign for National Parks, the Campaign to Protect Rural England, the Yorkshire Dales Society, the Ramblers Association and the vice-president of the European Parliament, Edward McMillan-Scott, MEP for Yorkshire and the Humber. In his letter to the YDNPA Mr McMillan-Scott stated that Tarmac had made it clear it had long term intentions to continue operating and that by approving the application for a three and a half year extension it would be difficult to resist that.

Natural England, however, did not object as the extraction of stone during the next three and a half years would not generate new impacts upon the environment. It was accepted that the continued use of heavy goods vehicles would have an impact. One of the conditions of the new agreement is that the road haulage level will be reduced next year (to 250,000 tonnes in any 12 months). The YDNPA would like to see a railway siding created which would mean a further reduction in road haulage.

At the meeting N Yorks County Coun Richard Welch made an impassioned plea for the continued use of the quarry. He compared the employment situation in the area to a three-legged stool which depended upon farming, tourism and quarrying. “If one leg is removed it will fall down,” he said.

Committee member Chris Armitage, like many of the objectors, reminded the committee that this quarry, like others near Horton in Ribblesdale, were in a National Park. “I get the feeling we are being taken for a bit of a ride as the applicants are already thinking of applying for another 10 year extension.”

Several objectors said that to approve the application would be contrary to both government and the YDNPA’s policies and that the continued extraction of stone would cause further harm to the landscape and the areas around the quarry. Settle Town Coun  Steve Amphlett had pointed out that there were 400 lorry movements a day from the local quarries  through the centre of the town. He described this as a blight on the town and wrote “400 lorries a day do not make for an attractive, safe and friendly town!”

The basis of Tarmac’s application was that it had not been able to extract as much as permitted in the past eight years due to the economic recession and geological stability problems. By the end of this year about 875,000 tonnes of permitted reserves would remain unworked.Arcow is one of the three quarries in the Yorkshire Dales supplying high performance aggregate for use in road surfacing.

Kettlewell . – The YDNPA planning committee on Tuesday heard how opinion in Kettlewell was divided about the application to replace a camp site off Conistone Road with a new one in a field nearby. Craven Dt Coun John Roberts said that 14 residents had objected to the application and there had been 21 letters in support of it. He added that the sustainability of villages like Kettlewell depended upon being able to provide many different forms of tourist accommodation and the campsites were an important part of that, particularly for the Duke of Edinburgh Award expeditions. As a resident of Kettlewell he abstained from voting.

Peter Charlesworth commented that the main problem with the proposed new location was that it would be so prominent in what was a “chocolate box view” landscape. “I could not conceive of a more inappropriate site,” he said.

The planning officer had noted that the application did not fit the criteria in the Local Plan for the creation of a tented camp site. She stated: “The introduction of a camp site into this field would seriously interrupt the character of upper Wharfedale and have a significant adverse impact on the setting of Kettlewell.” Not only was the site not screened sufficiently at present but it would not be possible to do so.

Nigel Lambert, the son of the applicants, explained that his parents were retiring at the end of October and the two camping sites they had run for many years would be closed. He wanted to move back to Kettlewell with his family and run the new campsite. The application included the conversion and alteration of an existing agricultural building to provide facilities for campers and an office which he would use to supervise the site. “We want to provide proper facilities including for the disabled,” he said. He added that he wanted to run the site professionally and that it would be open from Easter to October each year.

N Yorks County Coun John Blackie described how the campsite at Hardraw in Wensleydale had grown in popularity in the past few years and this had led to increased trade for the local pub and other businesses. “Campsites bring young people into the Dales  – and they will come back in the future.” Harold Brown agreed with him that the provision of camp sites brought prosperity to Dales’ villages.

Six of the members voted against the officer’s recommendation that the application should be refused. Five voted for her recommendation and there were two abstentions. This means that the decision to approve the application needs to be ratified at the November meeting.

Kettlewell enforcement notices. – The committee agreed that enforcement action could be taken to secure the removal of two unauthorised hard standings which had been created beside Kettlewell Beck as these had an unacceptable impact upon the character and appearance of the conservation area.  The Authority was concerned that if action was not taken other residents would create hardstandings for their vehicles on what was an important open space consisting of verges and green areas.

Burnsall . – The committee decided to defer a decision on an application for solar panels on a barn which is part of listed group of farm buildings at Oat Croft, Burnsall so that there could be a site visit. The electricity generated would be for the grade II listed farmhouse close to the barn. Burnsall parish meeting had unanimously supported the  proposal to install 21 photovoltaic solar panels especially as these would not be seen from the front of the barn.

The planning officer, however, recommended refusal because she felt that the introduction of so many solar panels on a traditional stone slate roof would seriously detract from the character and appearance of such a traditional group of buildings and the area around them. She had suggested that either the solar panels could be on ground mounted panels or installed on the roof of a nearby modern agricultural building.

The agent for the applicants, Mrs Jacobs, said that livestock was kept on the land around the farmhouse and the agricultural building was too far away from it. She did suggest that darker, more unobtrusive solar panels could be installed. The YDNPA’s member champion for climate change, William Weston, proposed that the application should be accepted even though he recognised that it would be a definitive decision as it affected a group of historic buildings. He also asked if darker panels could be used.

Some of the other members felt it was very important to protect the appearance of such an attractive group of traditional buildings and wanted to see for themselves if there was an alternative solution.

Reeth. – “After 16 or 17 amendments I think we have got a suitable development which I can support,” commented committee member Malcolm Gardner, when the application for the construction of a three-bedroomed house on land to the rear of Metcalfe’s Farm at Reeth was discussed. Coun Richard Welch said he had been very impressed by the plans when he attended the site meeting. He added that if he had not attended the site meeting  he would have voted against the proposal. The majority of the members voted to grant permission for the new house.

Spen House, Skelgill Lane, Askrigg. – Craven Dt Coun John  Roberts reminded the planning committee that it needed to be consistent in its decisions when the application concerning Spen House, a grade II listed building, was discussed. The owner of the house, farmer Mr Middleton wants to replace 10 sliding sash wooden single glazed windows with sliding sash wooden double glazed ones. Three of the windows of the house, which is on an isolated and exposed site above Askrigg, have already been boarded up because the frames had deteriorated so badly. But replacing windows with double glazed units would mean the loss of several with cylinder and plate glazed panels which, the planning officer argued, were part of the historic fabric of the building.

Coun Roberts pointed out that the YDNPA had refused permission for windows at Scar House at Hubberholme (a National Trust property) and at West Sale Park, Kettlewell, to replace such windows with double glazed units – and those buildings are also in very high, exposed locations. The planning officer had suggested alternatives to wooden double glazed units which included secondary glazing, insulation blinds or internal shutters. Mr Middleton told the committee that it would cost £500 extra per window to install secondary glazing.

Askrigg Parish Council supported his application because of the isolated and exposed nature of the site ensured that the work was necessary and there would be no impact on the surrounding properties. The committee decided to defer a decision until they had seen an example of the type of double glazed window that Mr Middleton wanted to install at Spen House.

West Witton – enforcement notice . – The committee agreed that enforcement action could be taken to stop what has become the “Chantry Country Retreat” making unauthorised use of a field on the far east side of the caravan site.