Craven District Council prepares to take on developers at inquiry (From Craven Herald)

Craven District Council prepares to take on developers at inquiry

12:20pm Saturday 18th February 2012 in Local news

Reasons to reject a shops and restaurant scheme for Skipton have been firmed-up by Craven District Council.

The council is due in April to fight its own development partner – Maple Grove Developments – over plans to replace 9 High Street with a restaurant and build four new shops behind the town hall.

The public inquiry, expected to last four days, will mean the council fighting to uphold a decision made by councillors against the advice of their planning officers.

Now, the original five reasons for refusal, agreed by councillors last year, have been reduced to four following the advice of a barrister and retail planning specialist.

The decision was made at a meeting held in private, to protect the council’s defence at the forthcoming inquiry.

Committee chairman Coun Richard Welch (Cons) confirmed the argument the proposed development was outside the core retail area of the town would no longer be used as a refusal reason at the inquiry.

“At the same meeting, the committee took the opportunity to firm-up one of the reasons for refusing planning permission,” he said.

“I firmly believe that these actions were necessary and will improve the council’s position at the planning inquiry.”

The council will now fight the application on the grounds that the development would lead to a significant loss of car parking and would contribute to safety concerns on Jerry Croft.

They also claim it would also have an adverse impact on the viability and sustainability of the town centre and would visually impact on nearby listed buildings.

It is believed that the council is to be represented at the inquiry by London-based barrister Michael Bedford, who represented the council at last year’s public inquiry into the residential development of Elsey Croft.