GOVERNMENT plans to alter planing rules could speed up the steady tide of young families leaving the region's countryside, national park officials have warned.

The North-East and North Yorkshire's three national park authority chiefs have joined colleagues in written to Communities Secretary Eric Pickles urging him to change proposals to reform Section 106 agreements.

The Government plans to introduce a threshold in Section 106 agreements meaning developments with fewer than ten homes would not need to be designated as affordable housing for local people.

But national park bosses point out that most of their sites tend to be small, infill opportunities and conversions for new affordable housing development.

The introduction of any threshold, even one lower than ten units, risks "seriously threatening our ability to facilitate affordable housing in national parks for local needs”, the chairs of the country's ten national park authorities say.

Jim Bailey, chair of National Parks England and the North York Moors National Park Authority, added: “Reforming Section 106 agreements might sound like a technical boring bit of planning, but in fact these changes go to the heart of how we can respond to the need for affordable housing in our rural communities.

"The national park authorities are committed to supporting living working communities. This proposal simply won’t help that in rural areas and we hope the Government will listen and exempt national parks from the change.”

Peter Charlesworth, chairman of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority, said the issue of affordable housing was critical for remote rural areas if the tide of families moving away was to be stemmed.

“Getting affordable housing built outside of towns and cities is difficult enough already.

“The Government’s proposal would snuff out any prospect of providing affordable housing in the smallest and most remote local communities.

“That is why all the local authorities in North Yorkshire have already written to object to this proposal. Even at this late stage, I would urge the Government to reconsider its plans.”

Richmondshire District Council, which covers part of the Yorkshire Dales National Park, has launched a campaign to halt the decline in the the numbers of young families in the Upper Dales.

The campaign is focussing on providing more affordable housing and job.

A steady decline in school attendance figures shows the extent of the problem, with a 50 per cent decrease in the last 15 years.