PLANNERS have refused permission for a 40-bed extra care scheme for the elderly in the Yorkshire Dales.

The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority rejected an application for the facility at Turfy Hill, in Hawes, at its monthly planning meeting.

The application was for a two-storey 'L'' shaped building with double and single self-contained flats aimed primarily at the elderly.

Communal facilities including a lounge, dining room, coffee lounge, library and doctor's surgery were proposed.

The application was submitted by Graham and Mary Watts, from Askrigg, who have previously lived in Hawes.

They said in a statement that the hill on the road was not as steep as stated and added: "This is a major opportunity to provide the town with a facility already urgently required by many elderly folk and their families, and would release many homes to the market.

"The site is secluded but a natural part of a urban area. It is capable of offering residents quiet enjoyment of a location they can be proud of."

However, the application was rejected after planning officers suggested it was unsuitable for that location, and would be intrusive on the landscape.

Officers also agreed with the local parish council which argued the proposed site was on a hill too steep for elderly residents and too far away from the GP surgery at the other end of Hawes.

Parish council chairman John Blackie later revealed that he and the park authority were in discussion about an alternative proposal for an extra care scheme in the town at a more suitable site.

In 2010, North Yorkshire County Council predicted a need for 30 new extra care schemes in the county up to 2020, including the equivalent of three schemes in Richmondshire.