4:00pm Saturday 13th March 2010
National park chiefs are gearing up for controversy after revealing a “preferred” list of sites to build affordable housing over the next ten years.
Planners at the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) say plans for the new homes which locals can afford have already split opinion in Long Preston.
And widespread opposition is anticipated from people in Threshfield Grassington, Kettlewell and Austwick.
The shortlist – which will go for public consultation in early summer – has been drawn up after the YDNPA asked landowners to nominate land on the outskirts of villages for housing.
Planners took the unprecedented step to increase affordable housing for people born and bred in the area who have been priced out of the property market after stating the problem was particularly acute in Craven.
It is envisaged that half the homes in any development would be “affordable” – for rent or under shared ownership, with housing associations retaining a percentage of the property.
The others would be available for local people to buy under occupancy restrictions to avoid outsiders taking them on as second homes or using them as a midweek base for long-distance commuting.
The YDNPA has already rejected some of the largest sites put forward, including a 14-hectare field in Embsay, owned by the Duke of Devonshire’s Bolton Abbey estate, and land at the former Langcliffe Quarry A huge site at the Long Ashes Holiday Park, at Threshfield, which was an original contender, has now also been rejected.
One of the biggest sites now under consideration is the former dairy at Threshfield, where it is thought there is room for up to 20 new homes. It is a brownfield site and development here “would be less intrusive on the environment”, although local opposition is still expected.
Peter Stockton, strategic planning officer for the YDNPA said: “The sites being considered are fairly modest in size on the edge of settlements, but quite a few are on greenfield land as there is a shortage of brownfield sites in the national park.
“There are a couple of sites in Long Preston that will excite a few people. The community there is fairly split, with the parish council in favour of one of the sites and the residents’ association against it and in favour of a site elsewhere in the village.
“The land off Pant Lane at Austwick is another controversial site, but we do need a better range of housing. The school in the village has written to us to say they are very concerned about numbers dropping off. They say a better range of housing is required to allow families with children to move in. It’s all about creating sustainable communities.
“What we want to achieve is to release some more land for affordable housing, but it will be a long process and some of the sites are 10 years away from being occupied.”
Mr Stockton said after the public consultation exercise, it was “inevitable that some of the sites would be rejected and it was possible that applications for more sites may surface in the future”.
“We are looking forward towards the next 10 to 15 years,” he said. “The housing market is in the doldrums, but eventually things will move on. Nothing will happen in the next six months. The process will take at least another year, maybe longer.
“But we are confident that, even if there is a change in Government, there will still be a commitment to building affordable housing. There is a continued need for subsidised housing.”
A list of the preferred sites, which make up the Yorkshire Dales Development Frame-work, has been sent to parish councils and will be considered further at the YDNPA’s next meeting on Tuesday March 30.
“We have already written to parish councils with the list so that locals can lobby members before the meeting,” said Mr Stockton. “But it’s early days and we are still gathering evidence.”
Austwick: Land off Pant Lane
Embsay: Land to the west of the mill and land off Millholme Rise
Cracoe: Land to the rear of The Croft
Kettlewell: Land off Conistone Road
Airton/Scosthrop: Land next to Hallgarth
Hebden: Land to the rear of Moor View
Grassington: Land north of Wharfe View. Land north of Lythe End. Land at Woodside
Horton-in-Ribblesdale: Land north of Hill Croft Barn
Threshfield: Land at Skirethorns Lane. Land on the former dairy next to Nethercroft. Land to the rear of the Manor, Main Street. Land to the rear of Ash Lea
Malham: Land at Daisy Bank
Giggleswick: Land to the west of Stackhouse Lane
Long Preston: Land south of School Lane. Land north of Green Gate Farm. Land at Green Gate Farm Yard
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