VILLAGERS have responded angrily after amended plans were submitted for a holiday park on the outskirts of Hellifield.

Four years after the last plan to build 99 holiday lodges at Hellifield flashes was submitted to the former Craven District Council, amended plans have been lodged with North Yorkshire Council.

The outline application for land to the east of Waterside Lane is for up to 73 lodges and a reception cabin. The scheme also includes parking and landscaping including 'ground-modelling and water features' and is within a site in the Craven Local Plan identified as a tourist development opportunity site.

The application is a re-submission of a previous, larger application for the site which was refused by the former Craven District Council in March 2019.

Since the end of Craven District Council, in April last year, councillors have frequently asked why it has taken so long for the application to be decided.

The submission of amended plans means that the consultation progress is underway again, with the public given to December 4 to make any comments.

Around 30 people have had their say on the planning portal of the council's website.

Many object to the development on grounds of it being 'no benefit to the community', would have an impact on the environment and would result in the destruction of wildlife and ecosystems.

There is also concern that if approval is given to the outline application, more units could follow.

One objector wrote: "The holiday park would create significant light and noise pollution, particularly during evenings, disrupting the lives of nearby residents. Hellifield is a close-knit, quiet village that provides refuge for its most vulnerable - children and the elderly. Increased light, noise, and human activity threaten the tranquility that supports mental well-being in our community."

Speaking on behalf of villagers campaigning to 'Protect the Flashes', Trevor Metcalfe said: “If this latest outline plan is passed, we could lose the whole area. Enough damage has been done already. People are worried about floods and road safety on the A65.” Barbara Wright added: “How many more times do we have to defend this unique green space from greedy developers? This should never have been brought back. Old permissions are being quoted from 20 years ago which were granted based on the then planned Hellifield/Long Preston by-pass to keep the traffic out of the villages; we still have no by-pass but they still want to bring the extra traffic.”

Included in the amended plans are the applicant's responses to previous objections to the scheme by bodies including Natural England, the Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and North Yorkshire CPRE, the countryside charity.

The site lies just outside the Yorkshire Dales National Park, and in October last year, the national park authority said it had no objections to the plan.

Its principal planning officer concluded: "It is considered that, with appropriate mitigation, the development would not have a significantly adverse impact on national park purposes and the national park authority would have no objections to the proposed development."

The planning officer added that the authority would want to discuss means of mitigation and concerns before the application was determined.

Outline plans for a leisure centre including swimming pool, hotel, up to 300 lodges, park and ride and pedestrian access to Hellifield Station were dismissed by Craven District Council at a meeting in Gargrave in March, 2019.

The application, which had been submitted in 2016, was rejected because of its impact on the character and appearance of the countryside; it being 'out of scale'; and its impact on Hellifield. It was also considered the amount of traffic generated from a development of that scale could not be accommodated on the road network.