The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is preparing a new Local Plan to cover the period 2023-2040. Our consultations to date have highlighted a pronounced interest from stakeholders in issues surrounding local occupancy policies and barn conversions.

This consultation provides an opportunity for you to guide the YDNPA in ensuring that the new Local Plan contains robust and effective policies that protect the Park’s communities and heritage treasures.

We are very interested to hear from households that have been affected by these policies, whether positively or negatively. We also want to hear from other interested parties such as estate agents, developers, solicitors and Parish Councils.

Please visit our website and take a look at the consultation document before completing this response form. 

The closing date for responses is Monday 20th September 2021.

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* 1. Name

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* 2. E-mail

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* 3. Of the options 1-3 on page 7 of the consultation document, which is your preferred strategy and why? Would you recommend an alternative strategy?

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* 4. Do you think the local occupancy strategy has helped or hindered the housing situation in the Park?

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* 5. Are local occupancy properties accessible to first time buyers and local workers?

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* 6. If they are retained are any changes needed to the occupancy criteria?

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* 7. If they are retained should the criteria for local occupancy be the same across the National Park?

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* 8. If the local occupancy policy is discarded what should happen to the existing agreements?

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* 9. Should the new Local Plan seek to restrict which barns can be converted according to their location?

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* 10. If you answered "yes" to Question 7, which locations do you think should be considered acceptable for conversion?

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* 11. If you answered "no" to Question 7, what criteria should be used to determine whether a particular building and its location has capacity for conversion to residential use?

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* 12. Should there be controls over the cumulative number of barns that can be converted in a particular location?

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* 13. Should the acceptability of a location depend upon the occupancy of the conversion? e.g. should buildings that are close to local services like schools and pubs be reserved as permanently occupied dwellings, leaving remoter buildings for holiday use?

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* 14. Should there remain scope for any or all barn conversions to be unrestricted open market dwellings?

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* 15. If you answered "yes" to Question 12, should the conservation levy idea be revisited?

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* 16. If you answered "no" to Question 12, should local occupancy restrictions be used, or alternative provisions* to ensure that barn conversions are used as permanent residences (e.g. primary residence, discounted sales)? *Please refer to Part 1 of the consultation document for details on alternative tenures.

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* 17. Should there be a limit on the floor area of barn conversions to ensure that they don’t become too unaffordable?

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* 18. Should the policy continue to allow some holiday letting uses of barn conversions. If so, in what circumstances and on what conditions (e.g. requiring a link between holiday letting and farm diversification or allowing holiday use in some locations but not others)?

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* 19. Is it possible to drive up conservation and sustainability standards for barn conversions? If so, how can we achieve this?

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* 20. Should there be more scope for innovation in the design of barn conversions? If so, what type of changes should be allowed?

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* 21. How can we better define the significance and capacity for change in different types of barns so that the level of sensitivity is better understood by all and design can respond accordingly?

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