COMMUNITIES and Local Government Secretary Eric Pickles has dismissed an appeal against a planning decision made by the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA).

Last year the Government decided to scrap local planning controls so that planning permission was no longer required for anyone wanting to change the use of agricultural buildings to some types of commercial use like shops, banks, restaurants, offices, warehouses, hotels and sports halls.

Members of the national park authority were concerned about the proposals on two counts – firstly, the potential negative impact on one of the most outstandingly beautiful areas of the country, which includes around 6,000 barns, and, secondly, they removed the rights of local communities, through a local planning process, to have a say on what happened in their area.

Members voted in March to introduce a Direction under Article 4 of the Town and Country Planning (General Permitted Development) Order 1995, which effectively retained local control of the planning process so there would still be a need for planning permission to be obtained for a change of use.

However, the decision was challenged by North Yorkshire Country Council and Richmondshire District Council, which asked the minister to step in and force the authority to cancel the Article 4 Direction.

In dismissing the councils’ request, Mr Pickles said national park authority members were “particularly well placed” to decide on local planning issues.

Authority chairman Peter Charlesworth said: “We welcome the decision of the Government to support the national park authority’s stance on this matter – it is a victory for localism.

“It is important to say again that the Article 4 Direction does not mean traditional barns or modern farm buildings cannot be converted to commercial uses.

“Indeed, the national park authority is very supportive of re-using existing buildings but we – and the Government through its decision – recognise that the special landscape in which these thousands of barns sit means that some proposals still need local scrutiny rather than just 'going through on the nod'.

“The Secretary of State’s decision means that local people are still able to have their say on applications – whether supporters or objectors – and we will go back to a situation where each case will be judged on its merits.

“Hopefully, we can all now get on with tackling the real challenges facing our remote rural areas, like investing in new affordable housing that meets the needs of local families and ensuring we have the quality of broadband that can attract new businesses into the national park.”