Measures against second home owners are mooted (From Gazette & Herald)

Measures against second home owners are mooted

THE Dales National Park's decision to stop outsiders buying new houses in parts of the area sparked debate among Ryedale district councillors.

At its full council meeting, Coun Keith Knaggs said it needed to consider measures which prevented second home owners driving local people away.

"I think we need to start an approach to this quite early because it is something I am personally inclined to support for Ryedale," he said.

"I believe it's particularly important that we as a council seek to ensure that local people do have affordable homes within which to live. What we're doing at this moment is good but it is slow and will take a long time to have an effect."

The council currently has a policy that 35 per cent of housing developments granted planning permission must be affordable.

In the Dales, the hope is that outlawing holiday home purchases will lead to new properties selling at a 30 per cent discount.

Coun Knaggs said the matter would need close communication between the council and the North York Moors National Park, the other planning authority covering Ryedale.

Harold Mosley, chief executive of the council, said he was unsure whether the policy options open to a national park were open to the district council.

Coun Robert Wainwright, chairman of the policy and resources committee, said the actions of the Dales National Park were being closely monitored and said that officers would be having talks with the North York Moors National Park.

Coun Linda Cowling said: "It is an issue for the whole of Ryedale. It's my belief that we shouldn't have to tackle it alone.

"It should be the policy that if you want to turn a home into a second home it is a change of use and it should require planning permission.

"If everybody lobbied the Government to change that policy, with a stroke we could do a lot for the young people and the community in Ryedale."

The council is currently consulting with the public on various issues in order to draw up a new Local Development Framework, a document which, under a new planning and compulsory purchasing act introduced last year, will replace the current local plan, which sets out how and where development should take place.

Coun Knaggs warned that the issue would need "careful handling", because there was a human rights aspect to the issue: "Sooner or later, someone will say you are only providing homes for local people and of course this is an area which is 99 per cent white.

"So it does require a degree of care," he said.

Updated: 10:30 Wednesday, January 26, 2005