Forward Land led the team achieved detailed planning consent for an award winning, sustainable hotel and cottages in the Yorkshire Dales National Park after being appointed by the owner to unlock a stalled process.
Located on the edge of the village of Linton, in the heart of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, the site was a former camp school. The site was one of 31 built by the National Camps Corporation and used as an evacuation centre in world war two. The derelict state of the 13 alien block structures on the brownfield site visually degraded the immediate surrounding. The landscape on the whole was not characteristic of the wider landscape and there was a broad level of decline in ecological value. Visually, the site sat in a position which had elevated inward views from the majority of surrounding vantage points. Despite its appearance, the site was allocated within the Yorkshire Dales National Park Local Plan to be part of a framework of objectives to address social, economic and environmental priorities.
Having brought together a team of specialist third party consultants, Forward Land led the efforts to re-engage with the planning authorities and understand the matters requiring attention. Visual impact, ecological offering, traffic impact and drainage were the hot topics. Credit to Trail Architects who were meticulous in addressing concerns about visibility and reworked the buildings against a testing landscape to achieve an award winning result. The wider team provided detailed proposals to allay fears relating to each area of concern.
The result was a scheme that is a credit to is setting within the National Park. The wide ranging economic benefits and level of detail of the proposals meant we were able to provide robust responses to often unfounded concerns during the exhaustive consultations. The final sustainable scheme comprised a luxury hotel that has up to 46 bedrooms, nine self-catering cottages with a spa, gym, café and restaurant.
The sustainable proposals include grassland roofs across the whole site, wetland ponds, bat and owl barn and field patterns interspersed with dry stone walling. The operation will utilize renewable energy via air source and ground source heating and cooling systems. There are also proposals for a low emission shuttle to take guests to the local villages to reduce vehicle movements. The operations have been forecasted to create around 40 full time roles including apprenticeship schemes designed to attract employees to a career in the hospitality and the tourism sector. The day to day operations combined with the expected guest spend in the local community is forecast to contribute up to £1.3million each year.
The scheme was put before the Yorkshire Dales National Park Planning Committee and approved under delegated powers. The planning committee commended its high-quality design, levels of sustainability through development and proposed operation. It was of great benefit to the application that the planning officer worked hard to ensure a thorough examination of the proposals took place. This application took place amidst the COVID-19 pandemic which added challenges to public consultations and communication with partners, stakeholders and authorities.
The consent created a significant uplift in value for the client and further work was undertaken to establish robust construction costs in a post COVID-19 environment. The site is currently listed for sale and remains a truly unique opportunity in the whole of the Yorkshire Dales National Park. When completed, it will be one of the largest developments ever approved by planners within the National Park’s boundaries.
