A YOUNG family has been refused permission to convert the former primary school in Langcliffe into a home and a floral and art workshop - even though 38 residents had signed a petition in support of their plans.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee heard that Jamie Kelly and Viktorya Hollings wanted to turn part of the school, which closed in 2007, into an open market home for themselves and their two children.

Langcliffe Parish Council was in favour of their plans which also included a floral and art workshop, allotments and a woodland area in the school grounds.

In addition to the petition, there had also been ten letters in support as villagers saw this as a way of stopping the building from decaying further.

But the school is outside the village development boundary and the planning officer was not convinced that the couple’s plans for the building sufficiently justified the loss of a community facility or the creation of a dwelling in the open countryside.

Ms Hollings, who jointly runs Berries Florists in Skipton with Jamie, told the committee: “After six years North Yorkshire County Council has not found a community use and private investors' interest has come to nothing.”

She added that renovations would cost £150,000 to £200,000 - a high price for any community use in such a small village.

North Yorkshire county councillor Richard Welch accepted that something needed to be done with the school but pointed out that it had been marketed by the county council as a commercial building.

He said that several people would have been prepared to make high bids for it if it had been auctioned for open market housing.

The majority of members voted for his recommendation that the couple’s application be refused because it was against planning policy.

ARC News Service