EDWIN Williams of Burnsall Parish Meeting pleaded with members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee on Tuesday not to start enforcement action against the owner of the private seasonal car park near Burnsall.

A planning officer stated that the installation of a stone entrance ‘island’ and metal boxes for the barrier at White House Farm car park at Lower Hartlington were not in accordance with the planning approval made by the planning committee in May 2021.

The approved scheme called for two simple cabinets to be clad in a timber housing and for the car park entrance to be screened with trees. A hedge has been planted instead and the planning officer said: "The development, as built, is a highly over-engineered approach to the issue of streamlining access and payment for the car park.

"The landscape is a highly pastoral one providing an iconic setting to Burnsall. The application site is highly visible from the village, the historic bridge and from one of the key entry points to the village. The area around Burnsall has great scenic value which is appreciated by thousands of visitors every year."

 She, therefore, recommended refusal of the retrospective planning application to vary the conditions of original approval and for enforcement action to bring the development in line with that.

Mr Williams told the committee: "When the application was passed in 2021 we were so grateful because the traffic in Burnsall had been horrendous since Covid. On one day the village was blocked for four hours - you couldn’t get a vehicle in or out."

The barrier system at the car park, he explained, had stopped cars being backed up across the bridge and into the village. "So please do not remove these barriers. I plead - I beg - I go on my knees - please do not."

 He said that the appearance of the barriers was minimal - and North Yorkshire councillor Robert Heseltine (Con and Ind, Skipton East and South) agreed with him.

Cllr Heseltine described the car park entrance and barriers as a very discreet solution, visible for only a short distance, which had solved the vehicular access problems in Burnsall.

He said: "We should welcome and congratulate this farming family for commitment over many decades to actually supporting our [the Authority’s] statutory duty." (To promote opportunities for the public understanding and enjoyment of the special qualities of the National Park.)

North Yorkshire councillor Andrew Murday (Lib Dem, Pateley Bridge and Nidderdale) said: "I find it very difficult to understand why we would refuse this when it would make things so much worse."

 Two committee members, however, believed it was wrong to approve a retrospective planning application when the applicant had ignored what the committee had previously approved.

The majority of the committee did approve the latest application with the condition that the present metal boxes were covered in timber cladding and that some trees were planted to screen the entrance.