CONSERVATIONISTS in North Yorkshire have spoken of their fear over the potential threat of wind turbines and the upgrading of the A64 York to Scarborough road.

The chairman of the Ryedale branch of the Council to Protect Rural England (CPRE), David Goodman, of Oswaldkirk, told its annual meeting at Helmsley that the lack of affordable housing for young people was also a worry.

He said the CPRE was concerned about the impact of wind farms because of the impact on the landscape.

Powergen has recently asked parish councils in Ryedale to highlight possible sites for turbines.

On the A64, Mr Goodman said there was a need to make roads safer and traffic in the Ryedale area less obtrusive. However, the A64 was "a particular concern" and the CPRE had made representations to the Department of Transport, which is carrying out a study aimed at improvements.

Mr Goodman said: "We believe that as the route is heavily over-used at some period but relatively quiet at others, it is not a suitable candidate for raising to motorway standard. There is clearly a need for dual and we are suggesting more staggered junctions, good slip roads and some crossing bridges."

An important issue said Mr Goodman was the number of planning applications to build large executive-type houses on infill sites in villages. "These have exceeded the projections in planning projections by a considerable margin.

"The recent up-date of the housing needs survey show that the situation is getting worse, with the average house in the National Park now selling for far more than the average wage-earner can afford. This looks like being an on-going problem which needs to be related to the availability of schools, shops and local employment."