Biggest homes plan in Dales National Park since 2014 is given the go-ahead

A MAJOR HOUSING plan for one of the most desirable parts of the region has been approved by councillors in a move which may help people to stay in the Dales.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority has granted full planning permission for the construction of 17 new homes in West Witton in Richmondshire.

It is the largest housing development to be approved in the National Park since 2014.

The homes will be built in a field next to Old School Close at the west end of the village.

Nine will be built for sale on the open market, the rest for affordable housing.

Six of the affordable units will be ‘discount for sale’, meaning that they will be sold at 70 per cent of their market value.

The remaining two will be affordable rental properties, retained by the developer Swale Valley Construction, and managed in conjunction with the local housing authority Richmondshire District Council.

YDNPA member champion for development management Robert Heseltine said: “Our message to developers is simple: if you bring forward high-quality schemes for the sites allocated in the Local Plan, we will approve them.

“Half of the homes in this development will be affordable and for local people.

“That is good news. As an authority we wish to help local young men and women, and hopefully their families, stay put in the Dales.”

The authority is actively encouraging house-builders into action on other sites that have been allocated for housing or where planning permission has already been granted.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park is one of 15 National Parks in the UK.

The news follows a series of reports in The Yorkshire Post in February focusing on a crisis of homes in the Yorkshire Dales and the need to build affordable homes and create new jobs in the area.