PLANS to build three holiday lodges in open countryside to the east of Eldroth, Austwick, have been given the go-ahead by North Yorkshire Council.

In a planning officer's report, recommending approval of the application, it is stated that the scheme is acceptable in principle.

The lodges will each occupy a triangular piece of land, laid out in a line in part wooded, part grassland, to the east of School Lane and connected by a winding access track off School Lane. The access onto the highway will be widened, and each lodge will have two car parking spaces and provision for communal waste and recycling.

The report states it will be a new tourism development of benefit to the local tourist economy. "It will be situated in a locality that is not well served by tourism development, despite being located less than 4km from the national park to the east, and a similar distance from Gisburn Forest to the south, and may therefore be considered an area of untapped potential."

It adds: "Taking account of the site conditions, the scale of the proposal, the location of the lodges within the site, and the lodge design, there is not considered to be a significant adverse impact to the special qualities of the AONB (Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty). In all other matters the proposal is acceptable."