A RESIDENT living in the national park has been told she must move out of her home as she does not meet the criteria for occupancy.
The woman in Ravenscar will now have six months to find alternative accommodation after the North York Moors National Park served her with a breach of condition notice.
The authority took the step after it was warned that by not cracking down on t
his breach, it would make it more difficult to enforce compliance in the future.
The action comes after a survey carried out in last October to determine whether residents in the national park where adhering to the Local Plan.
The Local Plan was adopted in 1992 and was amended in 2003 and it is designed to ensure new dwellings are occupied by people who meet a certain criteria relating to a person’s need to live within the park.
It is to ensure houses built become more accessible to local people and are not built to satisfy the external housing market.
The questionnaire sent out last year asked questions relating to residents’ family links to the area and the essential reasons they needed to live in the property.
Of the 40 responses, the national park received only one which did not meet the criteria.
In a report to its planning committee the authorities senior planning officer (enforcement) Jackie Clarke said the woman who did not comply with the policy had been living in Ravenscar since May.
She added: “She is living with her two children who are now attending local schools. She previously lived in Scarborough.”
The woman works as a massage therapist from home but only does a few hours work a week, said Mrs Clarke. She added: “Two letters of support have been received, one of which indicates the occupant assists with an elderly resident on a daily basis who has suffered a stroke.
“Another letter has been received from a local resident who states the occupant and her children are particularly helpful in the village and urges the occupant should be allowed to stay as she has a lot to offer.”
Mrs Clarke added park officers are satisfied the owner of the property was aware of the condition and if the national park did not act soon, the tenant could become immune through the passage of time.
The planning committee voted in favour of serving the breach of condition notice last week.
The full article contains 415 words and appears in Whitby Gazette Tuesday newspaper.
