OBJECTORS to holiday park plans for Hellifield Flashes have welcomed a refusal recommendation to next week's planning meeting of Craven District Council.

The outline application for the building of a leisure centre, including swimming pool, hotel and visitor accommodation, looks set to be turned down at a special meeting of the council's Planning Committee at Gargrave Village Hall on Monday afternoon.

Applicants, Ballan Ltd, are also wanting permission for up to 300 lodges, a park and ride facility, pedestrian access to Hellifield Station, parking areas and a bus and coach drop off point.

In his report to the meeting, principal planning officer, Mark Moore, recommends that the application is refused on several grounds, including it would be contrary to both saved and draft local plan policies, and on the grounds of highways safety.

His report concludes that the proposed development would have an adverse effect on the character and appearance of the countryside, would be out of scale in the context of its surroundings, and would have an unacceptable impact on the character and setting of Hellifield.

He also concludes that traffic generated by the development could not be satisfactorily accommodated on the road network.

Charities, the Friends of the Dales, based in Gargrave, and the Campaign for National Parks, have both welcomed the recommendation.

Ann Shadrake, executive director of Friends of the Dales said: "We urge councillors to note the very robust arguments for refusal which demonstrate that these damaging proposals are completely contrary to the council’s own saved and draft local plans, in particular the emerging policy EC4B which identifies the critical importance of the site for biodiversity.

"We commend the report’s detailed rebuttal of the developer’s claims about 'benefits to wildlife' or the creation of jobs. We fully agree that the protection of Hellifield’s environment comes first and we believe that councillors will do the right thing in refusing this application.”

And, Andrew Hall from Campaign for National Parks, added: “Important open countryside, right on the boundary of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, would be visually damaged by these proposals. Local roads would not cope with the significant increase in traffic. The plans also fail the national criteria for sustainable development.

“At a time when nature is in crisis this kind of development within the setting of the national park is completely inappropriate. Development of the Flashes will not only undermine the value of an important wildlife site, used by over 150 species of bird including 35 on the red list of endangered or threatened species but also impinge on the beauty and character of the national park.”

An application for the site was first submitted towards the end of 2016.

The meeting at Gargrave Village Hall on Monday is due to start at 2.45pm, after councillors pay a visit to the site.