1.
Site Description
1.1
The Tarn House Hotel and the Tarn Caravan Park are located close to the Yorkshire
Dales National Park boundary in open countryside to the north-west of Skipton, and
to the north-east of the nearby hamlets of Stirton and Thorlby.
1.2
The hotel is a substantial detached three-storey stone public house, situated in its
own grounds, and is reached by a narrow tree lined long drive from White Hills Lane.
The mature trees that line the side of the drive, and surround the front garden, are
protected by a Tree Preservation Order. The Caravan Park comprises two separate
groupings of predominantly static holiday caravans, amounting to some 250 pitches.
The smaller group of some 90 caravans are sited in the woodland to the north and
west of the hotel building; the main group (including some 32 touring pitches)
occupies lower ground further to the south, separated from the hotel grounds by a
largely open area of sloping grassland – used as informal recreation/amenity land for
the caravan occupiers.
1.3
The application site forms a small roughly rectangular parcel of land (some 38 metres
x 36 metres in area), located immediately to the south of the formal garden area in
front of the hotel, and alongside the head of the driveway.
2.
2.1
3.
Proposal
The construction of an indoor swimming pool, comprising a low pitched roofed
building, as a leisure facility for the hotel and caravan park. The structure has an
eaves height of 2.6 metres and a maximum ridge height of 5.3 metres. The external
wall finish is a limestone ‘spar-dash’; the roof a flat slate of a type to be agreed; and
stained timber doors and window frames. None of the protected trees are affected by
the proposed development, and additional tree planting is suggested.
Planning History
3.1
SN 3195/1: Use of 3 hectares (7.5 acres) of land as a caravan park, permission
granted 1 July 1965.
3.2
SN 3195/2: Use of 7.7 hectares (19 acres) of land as a caravan park, permission
refused 1 July 1965.
3.3
SN 5050: Use of land as caravan park, outline approval (with S.52 Agreement)
granted 8 October 1973.
3.4
5/65/15: Reserved matters (SN 5050), conditional approval 3 December 1975.
3.5
5/65/18: Extension of water main to caravan site. Approved.
3.6
5/65/101: Emergency internal road, conditional approval.
3.7
5/65/101/A: Extension of caravan site, refused 6 March 1995.
3.8
5/65/101/B: Extension of caravan park for touring caravans, refused 12 December
1995.
3.9
65/2002/2706: Conversion of hotel to dwellings, refused 14 January 2003.
4.
Planning Policy Background
4.1
PPG1; PPG7, PPG21.
4.2
North Yorks. County Structure Plan: Policy E2, and R3.
4.3
Local Plan: Policies ENV1, ENV2, ENV4; ENV10; EMP10, EMP18, and T2.
5.
5.1
5.2
6.
Parish/Town Council Comments
Stirton with Thorlby Parish Meeting: The Parish Meeting’s comments are in the form
of a resume of a meeting (to discuss both this application and 65/2004/4186) and to
which the applicants were invited to address (see Members Information Pack). No
clear recommendation is made, but the following “concerns” were raised at the
meeting with specific reference to the swimming pool proposal (in summary):
More traffic would come through the villages.

An external timber finish to the pool building would be preferred.

The existing tree-screening throughout the site is failing due to age and should
be “upgraded” with additional or replacement trees.

As the facility would not be available for non-residents, there was
“disappointment” that local residents would be “excluded”.
The above comments are a summary, the full comments are included in a Member’s
‘information pack’.
Consultations
6.1
North Yorkshire County Council (highway authority): No objections
6.2
Environment Agency: No objections. (The applicants have been separately advised
of the requirements for the discharge of the pool contents).
7.
7.1
8.
Representations
Four letters have been received from local residents expressing concerns; only one
objects to the development in principle (on ‘commercial’ rather than ‘planning’
grounds). In summary the principal concerns are:
The proposed building will add to the prominence of the caravan park
detracting from the quality of the local landscape and rural setting of the town,
especially as the existing and proposed landscape screening is inadequate.

The external walling material should be either stone or timber cladding.

The proposal would increase traffic on the “inadequate” roads in the villages.
Summary of Principal Planning Issues
8.1
Whether the principle of development at this location is appropriate, taking into
account relevant national and local planning policy.
8.2
The effect of the development on the character and appearance of the locality, taking
into account the proposed siting, design and external materials .
9.
Analysis
9.1
The application site comprises a small parcel of open land within the Tarn House
Caravan Park, which also contains the Tarn House Hotel premises. The caravan
park is located in open countryside some three-quarters of a mile from the north-west
edge of the built up area of Skipton, and lies immediately to south-east of the hamlets
of Stirton & Thorlby. Consequently, the site lies outside the recognised development
limits of any settlement and is situated in an area of rural character.
9.2
The development plan comprises the North Yorkshire County Structure Plan and the
Craven District Local Plan. Both place strict controls over new development in open
countryside and severe restrictions on new building outside of development limits, in
accordance with national planning guidance (PPG7). Structure Plan Policy E2 and
Local Plan Policies ENV1 and ENV2 seek to ensure that any development that takes
place in the countryside avoids harm to its character and appearance; and Policy
ENV4 seeks to protect the visual character of the Special Landscape Area.
However, Local Plan Policies EMP10 & EMP18 allow for upgrading/improvement of
tourist facilities, and the erection of permanent buildings on caravan sites,
respectively, subject to certain criteria being met. In addition, Local Plan Policy
ENV10 states that in considering proposals for development, trees protected by Tree
Preservation Orders will be safeguarded from harm or unjustifiable loss. Finally,
Policy T2 requires the level of traffic to be appropriate to the local road network.
Principle of development
9.3
As regards the first main planning issue, the proposed swimming pool is intended to
serve both the hotel and the adjacent caravan park – now in the same ownership –
and the applicants believe that this will “upgrade” the quality of the existing facilities
(and improve the financial viability of the previously closed hotel/public house). As
such the principle of development would accord with local plan policy EMP10 – in
improving existing tourist facilities; and under policy EMP18 - as a permanent
building on an existing caravan site being ancillary to the main use.
9.4
Consequently, in principle, the construction of the proposed swimming pool at this
location would be acceptable – providing the details of the development meet the
criteria contained in policies EMP10 and EMP18.
Visual impact
9.5
As noted the above, the most relevant local plan policies to assess the details of the
scheme against are EMP10 and EMP18. These policies require that, amongst other
things, that proposals respect “the scale and level of activity in the locality”; the
“natural and physical characteristics of the area”; and that “new buildings are of good
design and satisfactorily blend into their surroundings in terms of their design, siting
and materials”.
9.6
The application site is situated at the north-west corner of the more exposed higher
ground between the hotel and the main caravan group – land which has previously
been protected from development and used only for amenity/recreation. The
proposed pool would therefore be bounded by the hotel gardens to the north, the tree
lined drive to the west, and the remaining amenity grassland to the east and south.
The impact in the landscape of the existing hotel and upper caravan park is softened
by the grouping of mature trees around the hotel and associated drive-way (subject
to Tree Preservation Orders), while the main caravan park occupies lower ground
which is partly screened by the surrounding land form. The applicants state that the
site has been chosen to visually relate to the existing hotel building and to occupy the
least prominent position that is available in the undeveloped area.
9.7
It is therefore considered that the proposed pool can be properly associated with the
existing commercial activity on the site in terms of its scale and level of activity, and
provide a facility compatible with a tourist hotel/caravan park of this size and nature.
As a permanent building there is greater opportunity for the structure to blend in with
the surrounding buildings and trees than additional caravans. The details of the
design are for a relatively low building ‘cut’ into the rising land, to a simple design. In
terms of materials, the roof is likely to be more prominent than the walls in long
distance views, and the use of a good quality suitable flat dark tile is appropriate as
the cladding material. Representations suggest the walling should be stone or timber
to be more in keeping with the surroundings, but the use of a limestone dash render
is not considered to be unacceptable in this context.
9.8
Having regard to the above siting and design, although the building will be visible
from the elevated land to the south and south-east, it will be seen against the
backdrop of the existing hotel and surrounding trees. Balanced against the benefits
to the upgrading of the existing facilities, it is therefore not considered that the
proposal would be so prominent or incongruous to lead to an unacceptable impact on
the character or appearance of the area. As such the proposal would not conflict
with local plan policies ENV1, ENV2, ENV4, EMP10 and EMP18.
Local residential amenity
9.9
Some concern is expressed in one of the letters of representation about potential
noise nuisance from the pool. However, it is not intended that the pool be open in
the evenings, and given the distance from the nearest dwellings such nuisance is
unlikely. In representations from the local Parish Meeting and some residents it is
also noted that the proposal will be inaccessible to local residents, and that this
would fail to serve the local community – even that the development would
undermine the viability of the Council’s own swimming pool. However, while
criticisms of a commercial business nature are not material planning considerations,
the restriction of use to hotel/caravan park users is beneficial in reducing the potential
traffic to and from the site – a further concern for local residents. In conclusion
planning conditions restricting opening times and users can be applied, and it is not
held that the development will cause any significant harm to the amenities of existing
local residents.
Trees
9.10
The development proposals do not affect the protected trees within the hotel or
caravan park grounds, or indeed any other features of special environmental
protection. Additional tree planting is proposed and the application is supported by a
specialist tree report – which includes landscape treatment proposals. It is therefore
considered that the application proposals are compatible with local plan policy
ENV10.
Highway safety
9.11
It is suggested in representations that the development will generate additional traffic
that will use inadequate roads in the area. However, the highway authority has not
objected to the application and there is no evidence that the development will have
any significant impact on safety or the free flow of traffic on the local highway
network. Hence the application would not be contrary to local plan policy T2.
CONCLUSIONS
9.12
The existing holiday caravan park and hotel are located in attractive open
countryside close to the national park and within the designated ‘Special Landscape
Area’. The application site forms part of a larger parcel of land that occupies
prominent open ground separating the main caravan park and the hotel, and
previously protected from further caravan development. The proposed swimming
pool would form a permanent building, which would provide improved on-site facilities
for caravan and hotel users. It is shown sensitively sited and designed so as to
minimise its visual impact in the landscape when viewed from the higher ground and
public roads to the south and south-east. It is not considered that the development is
likely to have an unacceptable effect on the living conditions of existing residents in
the nearby settlements of Stirton and Thorlby, neither is it held that the application
proposals would have a detrimental impact on road safety. As such, the
development is considered to be acceptable against relevant development plan
policies aimed at protecting open countryside and the quality of the landscape – in
particular in meeting the criteria contained in local plan policies EMP10 and EMP18.
10.
10.1
Recommendation
Approval of the application is recommended.
11.
Summary of Conditions
11.1
Standard time limit.
11.2
Prior approval of all external materials.
11.3
Use to be restricted to residents of the caravan park and hotel.
11.4
Time limits on opening.
11.5
Prior approval of drainage details.
11.6
Landscape treatment.
11.7
Protection of existing trees.