PLANS to replace the timber-built Knowles Lodge at Appletreewick with a modern building have been rejected by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee.
That was despite support for the application from Appletreewick Parish Council.
Park member, Ian McPherson, said: "I think this is because refusal revolves around aesthetics – what we like and what we don’t like in terms of design.”
North Yorkshire county councillor John Blackie pointed out the authority’s own design guide stated that it wasn’t always necessary to reproduce the vernacular style.
He said: “I think this is a really good example of where we can perhaps be a little bit adventurous. We can step outside the norm and bring something forward that celebrates the park and celebrates the landscape.”
The architect, Ben Cunliffe, told the committee the footprint of the new building would be 71 cubic metres smaller than the existing lodge and, as it stood on large plot with trees around it, he believed the site lent itself to an arts and crafts-style family home.
Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong agreed, adding: “I am concerned at the idea that the only kind of building we are allowed is the vernacular style, which to me doesn’t seem to be appropriate. It would be a pastiche. It would be a lie. It should be a building of merit.”
The majority, however, disagreed, with nine voting to refuse the application and six being in favour of it.
l Story by ARC News
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