PLANS to extend a holiday chalet park close to Clapham Railway Station have been dismissed by the Government's Planning Inspectorate.

In October, last year, Craven District Council refused second phase plans by Adams Park Homes to add five luxury holiday lodges to its existing 15 chalet site Great Harlow View at the former railway goods yard on the edge of the village.

The company argued that demand for the lodges was very high, but councillors, listening to the objections of nearby residents and the parish council, refused the application on the grounds of the accumulative impact of additional lodges and the overbearing impact on the wider settlement.

Adams Park Homes appealed to the Planning Inspectorate against the council refusal, which was made against officer recommendation, and also for costs, and has lost both appeals.

In her decision notice, the inspector, Sarah Manchester, said the main issue was the effect of the lodges on the character and appearance of the area.

She said the second phase would be more elevated, and so more visible, and together would be out of scale, and would erode and detract from the 'characteristic rural pattern of scattered dwellings and discrete building groups, including farmsteads' in the area.

The development would not make a positive contribution to 'sense of place' and would result in 'cumulative adverse light pollution' impacting on the area's special 'dark skies' status.

She further believed that the development would not 'contribute positively to the local community or create any employment opportunities'.