The entrance to Howesyke Farm in Bishopdale
The Brown family, owners of Howesyke Farm in Bishopdale, near Aysgarth Falls, applied to the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority for permission to change the use of Thorbers Barn, which is currently used for grouse hunts. The farmhouse is already being operated as an 18-room holiday apartment.
The venue is already being advertised online for ceremonies by Riverside Yorkshire Wedding Venues, which is offering rental packages from £ 6,000, before the agency adopts a decision; However, the Browns agents said bookings would not be accepted unless approval was given.
Register to our daily newsletter
The i-newsletter cut through the noise
It was suggested that the barn could be used between March and August, outside the shooting season, for up to 50 guests with 10 bookings per year. Some of the guests would be housed in the farmhouse and the barn would be used for the ceremony, meals, discos and live music.
The barn was already equipped with facilities including toilets after approval in 2019 to make it a facility for shooting customers and employees.
The Aysgarth parish council protested the recent motion, citing noise and the impact on quiet. The North Yorkshire County Council freeway team raised concerns about the suitability of the parking lot, which would have required some cars to be blocked in others.
The planner’s report states that conversions of traditional buildings in remote areas can only be approved if their use is classified as “low-intensive”, such as the shooting range, and if they are mainly operated during the day.
The officials considered the wedding venue to be a “high-intensity” use and parking for 20 cars would have a negative impact on noise pollution. They expressed concern about the noise caused by nighttime functions in an open area that is part of a natural amphitheater and the possible erection of tents and other additional structures, as well as increased traffic and nighttime comings and goings. Conflicts with users of a nearby public footpath were also cited. The proposal therefore did not comply with the relevant planning guidelines.
In a letter to Browns agents to confirm their application was denied, Richard Graham, director of development management for the national park, said, “According to the local planning agency, the proposed change in use of the existing barn to a wedding venue would be” to an intense one Use with considerable comings and goings, noise and demand for parking spaces, which, due to the distinctive isolated location of the barn, would significantly impair the character, appearance and location of the barn in the open countryside.
“The planned use would impair the visual quality and the tranquility of the national park. The planned use of the barn as a wedding location in an isolated location in a wide open valley would, in the opinion of the city planning authority, “have an unacceptable effect on the peace and quiet of the area due to the potential noise from the disco / live music element of the proposed use.
“In the opinion of the city planning authority, the planned use would lead to an intensification of the use of the driveway, but insufficient information is available to be able to comprehensively assess the effects of the planned use on traffic safety is impracticable and the area of the existing reinforcement is harmful the surroundings of the traditional building. “
