CRAVEN'S affordable housing shortage was under the spotlight after a visit by the head of a Government commission.

The new chairman of the Government's Affordable Rural Housing Commission, Elinor Goodman, met local housing officials in preparation of a major report due out in May.

Mrs Goodman said: "The aim of the report is to finalise more affordable housing in rural areas. My role is to make sure rural areas are not discriminated against.

"Our starting point is that we all love the countryside. We are committed to the environment but also to thriving communities. People are as important to the countryside as the landscape.

"We could end up with a totally abandoned countryside. If you look at a Yorkshire landscape, a lot of the things that people come to see are man-made."

Mrs Goodman, the former political editor of Channel Four News for 23 years, spent two days touring the region and meeting representatives from housing associations, local authorities and housing enablers.

She warned of the dangers of "fossilised countryside communities" if no new affordable housing were developed.

"I could hardly have asked for a bigger challenge. We need to make sure people don't move away from the countryside. If we don't have housing for the next generation we will have a fossilised community.

"Where all the local services disappear, such as schools, transport and pubs and there aren't the local people to do the jobs, it's not good for the countryside.

"The position is ludicrous. The countryside will suffer if people can't live and work there."

Mrs Goodman praised new affordable housing schemes like the "exemption site" at Kettlewell, where affordable housing had been set aside for people who live and work locally. The houses cannot be sold off on the open market.

She said: "Basically what we have got to do is find affordable land. What we are looking for is whether there are any new incentives for landowners to come forward.

"One of the major issues is getting hold of land to build affordable housing. It can be really difficult, partly because some landowners think they can hold onto it and sell it for private land.

"The issue of buying land cheaply to build affordable housing on is absolutely critical. Emmerdale is a characture of what a countryside community should be like, but it won't be like that if market forces let rip."

Chief executive of Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, David Butterworth, said he welcomed the chairman's visit.

"We are interested in talking to her about solutions for local housing. We are keen to ensure that the messages that come out of this particular area do get back to Government," he said.

Mr Butterworth added: "I am absolutely certain that everyone is working towards the same direction."

After the visit, Mrs Goodman told the Herald: "The commission very much enjoyed the visit to the Kettlewell Housing Scheme. It showed how attractive such schemes can be and how important they are to the sustainability of a local community."