Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority (YDNPA) members have agreed to extend the conservation area around a Swaledale village.

Marske and New Forest Parish Council asked the authority to review the village’s conservation area and expand the boundary to include parts of the village within the national park.

The plans was unanimously backed at a meeting at the YDNPA headquarters in Bainbridge on Tuesday.

The meeting heard that a conservation area already existed for parts of the village that were outside the park boundary.

Upper dales councillor and park authority member, Yvonne Peacock, said: “The parish council are very proactive in taking care of their parish and their buildings.  But one thing that bothered them was the fact that only part of the village was in the conservation and another part wasn’t, and this wasn’t helping.  There’s still parts in North Yorkshire Council planning and Yorkshire Dales National Park planning, but at least they’ve got a conservation area as one.”

A report by Peter Reynolds, YDNPA building conservation officer, concluded that “an appraisal of Marske’s historical and architectural character and its wider setting supports the extension of the conservation area boundary”.

A review of the appraisal included a formal public consultation which ran from February to April this year.  Leaflets were distributed around the village and a public meeting was held.  34 responses were received to the consultation.

Officers said that while the draft appraisal document was well-received, responses were divided with regard to the proposed inclusion of areas of agricultural land surrounding the village.

Those who objected to the inclusion of additional farmland raised concerns regarding additional planning restrictions and bureaucracy, particularly for fields surrounding a Gothic barn to the south of the village.  However, other consultees argued that archaeological features within some surrounding agricultural land should be included.  There was also general support for the inclusion of Marske Hall and its gardens in the conservation area.

Following the public consultation, the authority produced an amended conservation area plan that excluded a large parcel of agricultural land surrounding the Gothic barn.