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Burley-in-Wharfedale businessman loses fight to keep road
A businessman who built an unauthorised drive to his house has been denied planning permission for the road one year after it was built.
Inspectors, acting for the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government Hazel Blears, agreed with local planners that the road, at Green Lane, Burley Woodhead, was an inappropriate development' which was harmful to the Green Belt.
They turned down the written appeal submitted by Seabrook Crisps boss Kenneth Brook-Crispin in February, stating that the road would cause significant harm to the landscape and character of the area'.
He will be served with an enforcement notice requiring him to return the land to its former appearance.
The news was welcomed by some of his neighbours who have fought long and hard to have the road ripped up.
One of them, who asked not to be named, said: "We're delighted. Hope-fully this time he will do the right thing and put it back to how it was.
"We have never used the road since it was built, it was a complete waste of money. He would have been better spending the money on upgrading the old road, that would have been much more beneficial."
Mr Brook-Crispin found himself at the centre of a row with some of his neighbours last May after calling in diggers to create the private drive.
The road, dubbed the Green Lane Bypass' was built without planning permission provoking a flurry of protests from some of his neighbours.
It was built to bypass the existing narrow track at Green Lane, which resulted in residents having to reverse their cars up to 700 metres on a daily basis if met by oncoming traffic.
The original lane, which dates back hundreds of years, was never intended for cars and resulted in numerous scrapes to property and vehicles as well as denying access to anything larger than a small transit van.
The land on which the new road was built belongs to a Green Lane resident, farmer Michael Green, who gave his permission for the development.
Speaking to Wharfedale Newspapers at the time, Mr Green explained that his 17th century home, which is a listed building, was regularly struck by lorries causing damage to his property.
However a report issued by the Secretary of State concluded that despite his concerns, the original lane had functioned adequately before the bypass was built.
The report states: "I agree that the new route is likely to be more convenient for drivers than the historical alignment of Green Lane, which pre-dates the era of motorised transport.
"Despite this, the lane seems to have functioned adequately through the transition from serving the largely agricultural needs of the past to the present requirements of scattered dwellings and reservoirs.
"Access by emergency vehicles may not be easy but this does not seem to deter people from living and investing in houses accessed from the lane.
"However I consider that the convenience of a relatively small number of drivers should take secondary importance to the intrinsic quality and character of the area that established planning policy is intended to protect in the wider public interest and for the longer term."
He added that two passing places which were widened further up Green lane could be integrated successfully into the landscape.
This is the second time in less than a year that Mr Brook Crispin has fallen foul of planning laws. In March this year he was ordered to remove wooden decking from the front of his property.
At the time of going to print Mr Brook Crispin was unavailable for comment.
1:38pm Thursday 8th May 2008
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