A LANGCLIFFE woman is concerned that the planning department of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority is not taking the concerns of residents seriously.

Betsy Bell, of Langcliffe Hall, says the department is not living up to its role as protector of the environment and the landscape.

She maintains that the department has consistently ignored complaints from the parish council and residents about the former Methodist Chapel and Sunday School in Langcliffe.

The buildings are currently being converted into two separate houses.

Mrs Bell told the Herald that she did not think that this development was in keeping with the conservation area given that the windows were uPVC, the buildings had been rendered with pebbledash and half of the roof tiles were a different colour.

In a letter to Mrs Bell, national park planning officer Daniel Childs said that although the site was in a designated conservation area, the buildings were not listed.

Mr Childs added that the new windows "are undoubtedly good examples of true sliding sash windows, albeit that they are plastic".

Mr Childs told the Herald that in order to ensure that the roof tiles matched, the authority had agreed with the developers that a special coating be put on the tiles to make them weather at a faster rate so they would be more in keeping with the area.

He explained that the authority had carried out an investigation into the matter and had considered taking enforcement action against the developer.

However, the matter had been dropped now that a suitable compromise had been reached.

Mrs Bell told the Herald that in her opinion "the wrong plans are being allowed" and there is "no consistency".

She said that her experience was completely in keeping with the findings of the Audit Commission's reported in the Craven Herald on August 12.

This report highlighted weaknesses in the planning committee's decision making and accused members of being "inconsistent and unpredictable".

The report stated that the planning process lacked respect, "in particular, officers cannot give reliable advice to potential applicants and decisions depend on which members are present on the day rather than the issues".

Mrs Bell also said that the parish council had also had problems receiving information from the planning department.

She told the Herald that she was concerned that if the authority did not listen to the concerns of the residents, they would become disillusioned with the park and this could create more problems.

The authority is currently investigating the complaint made by Mrs Bell.

She said that she hoped the national park would listen to the opinions and thoughts of residents who were trying to act in the best interests of the area in which they lived.