PLANS by a district councillor to fit solar panels to the roof of his home in Skipton have been given the enthusiastic approval of his planning colleagues.

Craven District Council’s planning committee voted unanimously to approve Cllr Paul Whitaker’s application to fit eight solar panels to the roof of his home in St Stephen’s Mews.

Members were told the property was in a conservation area and although there would be visual impact, it was not considered serious enough to warrant the application being refused.

Skipton councillor, Chris Rose, welcomed the development and added the fact it was in conservation area did not worry her at all. She also welcomed the development in range of solar panels.

Cllr Richard Pringle added: “I fully support this, and would like to get the message out that most, but not all applications that come to us we will be approving them.”

The application would normally have been dealt with by officers using delegated responsibility, but was brought to committee because the applicant is a councillor.