Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Application Code: R/60/7H Committee Date: 10/12/2019 Location: Ashgill Cottage, Tupgill Park, Coverham Ashgill Spring Sinks Issues Pond Dam Spring Drain Thorngill Cottage Thorngill Archway Cottage Statue Statue Pond Tupgill Park Statue GP Tupgill Park Tank Ashgill Spring Sinks Issues Pond Dam Spring Drain Sinks Thorngill Cottage Thorngill Archway Cottage Sinks Statue Statue R/60/7HR/60/7H Pond Tupgill Park Statue Issues GP Pond Dam Tupgill Park Ppg Sta Tank FOR REFERENCE PURPOSES ONLY. NO FURTHER COPIES TO BE MADE © Crown copyright and database rights 2017 Ordnance Survey 100023740. Additional information: © Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority Schedule No:7 Application No: R/60/7H District: Richmondshire Parish: Coverham with Agglethorpe Applicant's Name: Mr C Armstrong, Grid Ref: SE09598665 Received by YDNP: 11/04/2019 Officer: Andrew Bishop PROPOSAL: full planning permission for demolition of existing dwelling and erection of replacement building to provide 3 no. self catering holiday units together with car parking and ancillary works LOCATION: Ashgill Cottage, Tupgill Park, Coverham CONSULTEES Coverham-w- No comments received. Agglethorpe PM Middleham TC Council does not object to the works themselves but does have concerns about the inevitable increased traffic levels through Middleham and past the Low Moor racehorse training gallops. These roads are narrow and the surfaces deteriorate rapidly. Council believes that a road impact assessment should be undertaken. Council has previously requested that a strategic plan of future developments at Tupgill Park would be helpful when considering individual applications. Middleham Ward No comments received. NYCC - Area 1 No objection on highway grounds. Richmond Highway Depot North Yorkshire No comments received. Building Control Fire & Rescue Service Insufficient detail to determine if it meets the Building Regulations. Wildlife Conservation No objection. Officer Area Ranger (Lower PROW indirectly affected. Wensleydale) Senior Listed Building No objection subject to recording. Officer PUBLIC RESPONSES None to date. R/60/7H 10 Dec 2019 Schedule No:7 RELEVANT PLANNING POLICIES C5(15) - Replacement Dwellings L1(15) - Heritage assets T5(15) - Indoor visitor facilities W1(15) - Wildlife sites, species and networks W2(15) - Biodiversity enhancement BE1(15) - Business development sites BE2(15) - Rural land-based enterprise SP1(15) - Presumption in favour of Sustainable Development SP2(15) - National Park Purposes SP3(15) - Spatial Strategy SP4(15) - Development Quality OFFICER OBSERVATIONS REASON FOR COMMITTEE CONSIDERATION This application is reported to the Planning Committee for the following reason: in the opinion of the Head of Development Management it is in the best interests of the Authority that the application is considered by the Planning Committee. APPLICATION SITE The application site is a stone built dwellinghouse and its garden located at the Ashgill building group of racehorse and equestrian buildings within the Tupgill Estate. The Ashgill building group stands on the hillside some 270m to the north of the Forbidden Corner visitor attractions and Tupgill House. The building group is separated by woodlands from the visitor facilities at the Forbidden Corner and Tupgill House. The hillside to the north restricts any longer distance views of Ashgill House from that direction. Access to the site is via the main entrance and private drive serving the whole Tupgill Estate, which is also a public right of way. The western gable end of Ashgill Cottage adjoins the main internal estate road from the Forbidden Corner. This road divides the Ashgill building group into two. The vacant Ashgill Cottage and unused modern stable and equestrian buildings are on the roads eastern side. To the west are ranges of stables and residential dwellings. The front of Ashgill Cottage faces south onto its garden which is enclosed by woodland. Attached to the rear of the house are domestic outshots and wings including one containing an office and stables. Ashgill Cottage was last occupied in 2017 by a racehorse owner/trainer. PROPOSAL The application is for planning permission to demolish the existing dwelling and erect a replacement building containing 3 self catering holiday units with associated car parking and ancillary works. The proposed building would be erected slightly further down the hillside on what is currently a lawn to the private side of the existing house. The proposed two-storey building would be constructed of natural stone and slate with uPVC windows. It would take the form of a double ridged house to which has been added a side extension. Part of the footprint of the existing house would be used to create 7 car parking spaces for the occupants of the new units. R/60/7H 10 Dec 2019 Schedule No:7 RELEVANT PLANNING HISTORY Planning permission was granted in 1998 (R/60/7A) for alterations and an extension to Ashgill Cottage. This also included the erection of two detached blocks of racing stables and alterations and extensions to the existing stables at the rear and side of the house. One of the two blocks of loose boxes at the rear of Ashgill Cottage approved in 1998 is the subject of another current and undetermined application for change of use and conversion into two staff accommodation units with parking and ancillary works (R/60/7J). A previous application for the demolition of Ashgill Cottage and the erection of a replacement building to provide 4 no. self-catering holiday units together with parking and ancillary works was withdrawn in June 2018 (R/60/7G). KEY ISSUES -principle of the development -impact on character and appearance of the countryside -residential amenity and privacy -public rights of way -highway safety -impact on wildlife -parish council comments PRINCIPLE OF THE DEVELOPMENT The proposal is to demolish a traditional dwellinghouse and redevelop the site by the erection of a building containing 3 units of living accommodation for use as short term holiday lets. The holiday accommodation would be used in support of the Forbidden Corner visitor attractions. The first consideration is therefore the heritage significance of the demolition of the traditional house followed by a consideration of the redevelopment of the site for holiday units. Demolition of existing house Local Plan policy L1 – Heritage assets states that before a traditional building can be demolished an assessment has to be made of its heritage significance. The house is not a listed building and there are none in the Ashgill building group. Parts of Ashgill Cottage are believed to date back to the C18, although it was re-fronted in the later C18 or early C19. The age and stone construction of Ashgill Cottage mean that it has a degree of heritage significance, but that is not of equivalent value to a listed building. The proposed demolition of the house would result in the total loss of the building. The test for development is therefore whether “reasonable efforts have been made to minimise harm”. This approach would accord with that of the National Planning Policy Framework’s at paragraph 197 which states: “197. The effect of an application on the significance of a non-designated heritage asset should be taken into account in determining the application. In weighing applications that directly or indirectly affect non-designated heritage assets, a balanced judgement will be required having regard to the scale of any harm or loss and the significance of the heritage asset.” The demolition of the house is proposed due to the poor state of the building. The application is accompanied by a Structural Report by a firm of consultant engineers and quantity surveyors. They found that the rear of the house is built into the higher ground R/60/7H 10 Dec 2019 Schedule No:7 causing drainage issues and high dampness throughout the house. They consider the shallow foundations to be insufficient to support the house on the moist clay ground below. The roofs are sagging and in poor condition such that the timbers would need to be replaced and the chimneys rebuilt. They consider that there are issues with the construction of walls which have moved causing leaning and bowing in numerous places. There is significant cracking in three locations on the front elevation alone. The floor joists are undersized and have poor bearing onto the walls, meaning that all floors would need taking up and replacing. Cracked lintels over windows and doors would need to be replaced. The whole house would need to be re-rendered and fitted with a damp course. Such major works would be required to bring the property back into a usable condition that very little of the existing structure would remain. Even if it were practical to shore up and retain some of the walling the end result would be classified as a rebuild, rather than a restoration of the existing house. The heritage significance of the existing building would therefore have been lost. The costs involved in trying to retain some of the building and the necessary site works to address the damp issues would be uneconomical when compared to a total rebuild. A justifiable case has therefore been made to allow the demolition of the existing house. The existing house structure can be recorded for the Historic database and this can be required by a condition. The stone can also be recycled by being reused in the replacement building. Erection of holiday units The National Planning Policy Framework (NPPF 2019) sets out the purpose