15
Dec 2024
Ban proposed on new Dales housing being used as holiday lets
New houses built in the Yorkshire Dales National Park will not be available for use as second homes or holiday lets under proposed new rules.
Members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) will meet next week to consider a draft set of planning policies that will guide development in the park for the next 15 years.
The new local plan, which will be subject to formal public consultation early next year, includes details of the sites within the national park for the building of new homes.
Feedback from a recent public consultation on future housing sites will be discussed at the meeting on Tuesday to agree which sites should be included.
In total, 23 sites have been proposed for new housing, which it is hoped will deliver 369 houses.
When added to planning permissions that have already been granted, park bosses hope this housing will go a long way towards meeting a target 750 dwellings over the plan’s lifetime.
The sites include Airton, Bolton Abbey, Carperby, Grassington, Hawes, Horton-in-Ribblesdale, Long Preston, Nateby, Newbiggin-on-Lune, Orton and Sedbergh.
The sites are generally large enough to accommodate at least five houses, but often more than this.
The introduction of a principal occupancy condition on all new homes is included within the draft document.
It is designed to ensure all new housing is permanently occupied rather than used as second homes or holiday lets.
Officials say the local plan will also support the development of the rural economy and gives greater prominence to climate change and nature recovery.
Richard Foster, YDNPA member champion for sustainable development, said:
I would like to thank members of the public and all the organisations and businesses that have fed into the development of this new local plan, which will undergo a final and more formal stage of consultation early next year before being submitted to the planning Inspectorate for examination.
I would also like to thank our partner organisations, particularly North Yorkshire and Westmorland and Furness councils who, as the housing authorities, are ultimately responsible for building the affordable homes we need here.
Mr Foster said there were 52 new policies to consider within the local plan.
He added:
These policies seek to support farm businesses, and cover housing, the rural economy, traditional buildings, landscape and wildlife, amongst other things.
I’m looking forward to seeing the ten individual development plans that we inherited when the national park expanded in 2016 finally becoming one single document.
This will make it much simpler for our communities and help us to respond more effectively to the economic, social and environmental challenges we face.
It is expected that a draft local plan will be released for further public consultation in early 2025.
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