Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

Transcription

1 Reynard Gill Glen Cottage Wharfe Barn 1 4 Andra's Farm Lyard Yate St John the Baptist's Church Craven Laithe Old Coach House Craven Laithe Cottage Blue Ridge Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Application Code: Committee Date: 08/12/2015 Location: The Craven Arms, Appletreewick Track Cave Shaft Fairy Hole Workings (disused) Cruck Barn Rinhams Level (disused) Low Hall Stocks Fell View Craven Arms Croft House Laburnum (PH) Cloister Farm Craven Barn Path (um) New Inn Sawley Cottage Mock Beggar Hall Monks Cott CG Rose Cott Smithy Cott Rosemary TCB Rose Barn LB Hillside Cottage Craven Cottage Hilltop Cottage Fell Cott Fold Bottom Sawley Barn Reynards Appletree House Hall Wells Glaholm The Old Cottage Prospect Farm Tandem Cottage High Hall The Cottage Track Trough High Hall Farm Hall Wells Barn FW Mill Island River W ll Wells Dike Cruck Barn Level (disused) Low Hall Stocks Craven Arms (PH) Cloister New Inn Sawley Cottage Mock Beggar Hall TCB Fold Bottom Sawley Barn Reynards FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY. NO FURTHER COPIES TO BE MADE Crown copyright and database rights 2011 Ordnance Survey Additional information: Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority

2 Application No: District: Parish: Applicant's Name: Grid Ref: Craven Appletreewick Mr D Aynesworth, The Craven Arms SE Received by YDNP: 04/11/2015 Officer: Katherine Wood PROPOSAL: LOCATION: full planning permission to position 3 "Shepherds Huts" to rear of premises to provide overnight visitor accommodation The Craven Arms, Appletreewick CONSULTEES Appletreewick PC Trees & Woodlands CEHO Craven Recreation & Tourism Manager Highways North Yorkshire PUBLIC RESPONSES None received. No objection. None received. This application would support NPMP objectives B1 and E4. There has been an increase in demand for higher quality temporary accommodation such as yurts, pods and shepherds huts. (See Understanding the Needs and Opportunities for Visitor Accommodation, Final Report, Arup, 2nd December 2013). Currently the National Park has very little of this type of accommodation available. No objections. None to date. RELEVANT PLANNING POLICIES B8(06) - Conservation Areas GP1(06) - National Park Purposes GP2(06) - General Design Policy NE9(06) - Trees, Woodlands and Hedgerows VF5(06) - Sites for Static Holiday Caravans NE10(06) - Protecting Trees at Risk from Development OFFICER OBSERVATIONS REASON FOR COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION This application is reported to Committee as this type of application represents a substantial departure from adopted Local Plan policy. 08 Dec 2015 Page: 26

3 APPLICATION SITE The application relates to The Craven Arms, a public house to the western edge of Appletreewick. The Craven Arms is a traditional vernacular dales pub fronting the road through the village. To the rear and built on rising ground is the recent development of a ling roofed cruck barn extension which serves as a function/dining room facility. To the very rear of the site and elevated above the original pub building is a car park serving the premises. This application relates to the embankment surrounding this car park area. The embankment was planted with trees years ago. The site lies within Appletreewick Conservation Area PROPOSAL This application seeks full planning permission for the siting of three shepherd huts positioned on the embankment to the rear of the site; elevated above the car park and pub complex. Shepherd huts are small units of holiday accommodation that are prefabricated; constructed from timber boards with a corrugated metal roof and mounted on cast iron wheels. Internally the shepherd hut comprises an open plan living and sleeping area, with a wood burning stove, and an enclosed shower/toilet. The space is sufficient to accommodate two adults or a small family. There are no cooking facilities; it is envisaged that meals would be taken within the pub itself. To site the shepherd huts, the embankment would need excavating to create three level areas and a hardcore path to serve each shepherd hut; the levelling work has been carried out since the submission of this application. The shepherd huts will be connected to the mains water supply and the existing electricity supply serving the public house. Foul sewage will drain to a septic tank with the outflow connecting into the main sewer. RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY In 2001 planning permission was granted for the use of the barn attached to The Craven Arms as staff/managers' accommodation or self contained holiday accommodation as an integral part of the public house (planning ref. C/02/60B). In 2005 planning permission was granted for the cruck barn extension to form a function space and dining room, together with the car park area (planning ref. C/02/60C). KEY ISSUES: - principle of development - impact on character and appearance of the area - impact on neighbours - trees - highways - parish council comments PRINCIPLE OF DEVELOPMENT Shepherd huts are not referred to in the current local plan and are not defined in legislation. However, they are considered to fall within the statutory definition of a caravan; a caravan is defined as any structure designed or adapted for human habitation which is capable of being moved from one place to another by towing or transported on a vehicle or trailer. Therefore, under current adopted policy, saved policy VF5 (Sites for static holiday caravans) of the adopted Yorkshire Dales Local Plan would apply. Policy VF5 states that 08 Dec 2015 Page: 27

4 new sites for static caravans, for multiple or single units, will not be permitted. The emerging Local Plan is sufficiently advanced in its preparation that it can be afforded weight as a material consideration. However there are some policies that cannot yet be attributed any weight due to the level of objection received following public consultation. This includes policy T3 (Sustainable Visitor Accommodation), which supports the siting of new types of short-stay holiday accommodation including camping pods, shepherd s huts and railway carriages subject to their landscape impact. Policy T3 has received objection at the public consultation stage and therefore cannot carry any weight at present. Notwithstanding this, paragraph 28 of the National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF) is supportive of new forms of sustainable short-stay tourist accommodation and can be given weight in considering proposals for such accommodation. The Authority also recognises that there is a need for high quality, sustainable tourism developments which improve the quality and range of facilities (National Park Management Plan ). Shepherd huts are one of several forms of visitor accommodation of which there is a recognised gap in the tourism market in the National Park (Arup visitor accommodation study 2013); providing low cost accommodation which is more resilient to poor weather and therefore less season dependant than camping and yet can be assimilated better in to the environment than caravans. The Craven Arms is an established business in the National Park catering to the tourism industry, and has 24 hour onsite management. The provision of shepherd huts to provide accommodation in association with the pub is a more sustainable and sensitive solution than extending the pub complex further with guest accommodation. As such, it is considered that there are sound reasons for supporting the provision of shepherd huts at this particular site providing they have an acceptable landscape impact and are acceptable in all other regards. IMPACT ON CHARACTER AND APPEARANCE OF AREA The site lies within Appletreewick Conservation Area. Section 72 of the Town & Country Listed Building & Conservation Areas Act 1990 requires that the Local Planning Authority pays special attention to the desirability of preserving or enhancing the character or appearance of that area. The three shepherd huts are to be sited on elevated land behind the pub complex so that they will be effectively higher than the roof of the pub and the cruck barn. The site is enclosed by semi-mature trees and further rising land behind, so that the main public views are from the roadside to the south-east and distance views from the Bolton Abbey road (B6160) across the valley. Whilst in the close range views from the roadside at least one of the shepherd huts would be visible, it would be semi-screened by existing planting and viewed in the context of the public house and car park. The shepherd huts would be constructed from dark stained timber which would make them further recessive and hard to discern in distant views. The car park is already served by low level external lighting and as such, the addition of three low-level lights serving the shepherd huts is unlikely to harm the quality of the surrounding landscape. IMPACT ON NEIGHBOURS The nearest neighbouring property is the New Inn, 130 metres to the east, another public house in the village. To the west Low Hall Farm is 150 metres from the site and separated 08 Dec 2015 Page: 28

5 RECOMMENDATION by the Craven Arms pub itself. Given the distance between the site and these properties, it is therefore considered that the siting of three shepherd huts is unlikely to result in any impact on the amenity of neighbouring properties. Nethertheless, self-catering accommodation such as this will need appropriate management and supervision. Although it is anticipated that the shepherd huts will be managed in conjunction with the operation of the public house, a draft management plan has been submitted by the applicant, specifying; who would be on site to manage the accommodation, how noise and disturbance would be controlled, where guests will park, use of external lighting and fires/bbqs and what provision would be made for recycling and rubbish disposal. A condition requiring the submission of and adherence to the management plan can be imposed on any approval. TREES The shepherd huts will be positioned within an area planted with semi-mature and immature trees. The proposed siting is likely to result in the loss of one small Ash tree and cutting back other trees. These works will not significantly harm the contribution the bank of trees makes to the amenity of the area and the Authority's Trees and Woodlands Officer has no objections to the proposal. The applicant has also agreed to further tree planting where appropriate to enhance the landscaped context of the huts. HIGHWAYS Guests staying in the three shepherd huts would use the access and car park serving the pub. The proposal is unlikely to intensify the use of this access to a significant degree and highway safety is unlikely to be affected. The Highway Authority has no objections to the proposed development. PARISH COUNCIL COMMENTS None received. ANALYSIS OF MATERIAL CONSIDERATIONS Shepherd huts are classed as caravans and as such would not be supported by saved policy VF5 of the Local Plan (2006). However, this policy was not written with a view to shepherd huts and they are distinctly different from caravans. The NPPF and the National Park Management Plan are supportive of high quality, sustainable tourism developments which improve the quality and range of facilities. Shepherd huts will also enable this visitor related business (The Craven Arms) to provide accommodation. The proposed shepherd huts will be relatively unobtrusive due to their modest scale, simple design and dark stained timber finish. They will be viewed within the context of The Craven Arms pub complex and within an existing maturing landscaping scheme. This development should therefore assimilate into the site without adverse impact on the conservation area or the wider landscape. It is therefore considered that whilst the proposal would not accord with saved policy VF5, there are sound reasons in this instance to warrant a departure from the policy. In all other respects the proposal would accord with saved policies GP1, GP2, B8, NE9 and NE10 of the Yorkshire Dales Local Plan (2006). 08 Dec 2015 Page: 29

6 Subject to the expiry of the period of 21 days advertising the application as a departure with no substantive objections being received during that period, to GRANT planning permission subject to conditions based on the following; Standard time limit Accordance with approved plans The submission and implementation of a management plan Landscaping scheme agreed and implemented Tree protection External finish: external timber stained dark brown; wheels painted black; roof to be black External lighting to be agreed Restriction to shepherd huts - (for example, none of the shepherd huts hereby permitted shall be replaced by any other structure(s) or caravan(s) differing from the approved details, unless and until details of the size, design and colour of such replacements have first been approved in writing by the Local Planning Authority). Short-term holiday accommodation only Withdraw permitted development rights relating to means of enclosure, caravan sites and minor development 08 Dec 2015 Page: 30