OWNERS of listed buildings within the Yorkshire Dales National Park are to receive information on planning laws on a more regular basis.

And the national park authority is to update its website with the same information so it is accessible at all times to anyone thinking of carrying out alteration work.

The move follows a vote to prosecute Mr M Myers, the owner of Angram Farmhouse, at Halton Gill, a grade two listed building, after he allegedly altered the interior of the building without planning consent.

Planning officers at the Yorkshire Dales National Park suggested the application for retrospective planning permission be refused.

They said the unauthorised works which included the removal of internal stone flags, a fireplace, the removal of certain timbers and the loss of mullions, lintels and sills, as well as much evidence to the original layout to the first and loft floor areas, had caused considerable damage to the character of the building.

"The owner has committed a criminal offence," said environment officer Graham Darlington.

Coun Robert Heseltine said prosecution was the only way to try to stop work being done to listed buildings in this way.

He said: "We have been here before. An offence has been committed and if nothing is done, there will be more and more buildings like this destroyed."

But the vote to prosecute was decided on the narrowest of margins. Many members of the committee felt such action was heavy handed because there was no real record of what the interior was like originally, only that it was in a poor state.

The owner's agent, Edward Mason, said the suggestion to prosecute was "out of all proportion to the gravity of any offence that might have been committed.

"This is not an unscrupulous developer who stands to gain by flouting the law, but a private individual who has done his utmost to make his house habitable again."

The parish council had voted that the work be retained.

"The house, prior to 1990 when Mr Myers became the owner, was in a very bad condition with rotten timbers, broken lintels, sills and flags.

"All the work has been carried out meticulously and with great affection and painstaking care as it had been in Mr Myers' wife's family for a long time. The alterations have been made in the spirit of the listing to a high standard," it said.

Coun Peter Walbank said that the majority of people genuinely believed that internal alterations to listed buildings did not count as far as prior consent was concerned.

"Is it our fault or their fault?" he asked.

Coun Walbank added: "We don't know what the interior was like to start with so I suggest we grant retrospective planning permission in this case."

Coun John Blackie also felt prosecution was inappropriate and suggested in the near future that the website be updated to offer planning information to owners of listed buildings and their agents and advisors.

A guide book had been sent out three years ago to such owners but it was agreed information should be available on a more regular basis to take into account the fact that these buildings were frequently sold and the new owners were unaware of the laws.

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