By ARC News Service

DESPITE the full support of Arncliffe Parish Meeting to see an “eyesore” in its conservation area replaced with an extension which it believed would improve the visual appearance of the School House the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority’s planning committee has rejected the planning application by the owners.

The agent, Robert Groves, told the committee on March 10: “This [flat roof] is quite an eyesore and it is the most dilapidated part of the building. The proposed extension is modest…and it will bring about a huge improvement. It completely respects the original Gothic architecture of that part of the school house.”

He said the Parish Meeting had held a special meeting to discuss the application and had written to the YDNPA three times in full support of the proposals and revisions.

The majority of the committee members, however, agreed with the planning officer who stated: “The School House is an important and distinctive building in the Arncliffe Conservation Area which] contributes positively to the character and appearance of the Conservation Area because of its Gothic character and appearance. The proposed extension would undermine and harm the overall character and appearance of the building by adding a large extension of unsympathetic proportions and architecture.”

She said that two flat-roof extensions had been built in the 1970s to provide additional facilities for the school. The application was for replacing one of these with a two-storey extension with a hipped roof to provide a garage and a home office with shower room above.

Committee member Jocelyn Manners-Armstrong said: “Due to the scale of the proposed extension it would dominate the building. A smaller extension would get a more positive response.”