It's not every day that a market town receives inward investment from its forgotten youngsters. When children return - older, wiser, and richer - not to mention bubbling with optimism and future plans, it's a breath of fresh air that can blow either way.

It's happening in Richmond right now. Matthew Spence, 33, son of local artist Christine Spence and younger brother of Richard, 39, and Simon, 36, has returned to set up Ecobuild UK, a family business that is spearheading an ambitious £2m scheme to build the UK's first environmentally-sustainable five-star holiday lodges on family-owned land on the edge of the town.

If planning permission is approved, building will be funded by a combination of private investment and venture capitalism. Baker Tilly is advising on the business plan and it is hoped to use the Richmond scheme as a blueprint for a further nine sites UK-wide. The concept - Gateway Lodges - is to provide high quality environmentally-sustainable holiday accommodation that will attract an average rent of £700 per unit per week bringing high earners to flagging market town economies on the edge of national parks.

Ecobuild has invested £60,000 in the planning application for Richmond alone. So determined are they to succeed, they have pledged to donate 10pc of the net profit to the town year on year via a volunteer advisory group. They want to use local suppliers, recruit employees from Richmond Job Centre, and work with the Richmond business community to bring new retailers to the town. As part of the national plan, scheduled over five years, the company will keep its UK headquarters in Richmond. The town has been promised a community donation of £50,000 in the first year with five jobs being created almost immediately.

On the face of it, it's an inspirational scheme and exactly the sort of project Richmond's economy needs. However, concerns have been raised about a number of issues including the scale of the development, its impact on existing wildlife populations and alterations to the appearance of the landscape.

To feel the weight of the Spence's commitment, you have to go back 15 years when their mother, recently widowed, came to Richmond from Bishop Monkton to start anew. On impulse she attended a local auction, got swept along with the moment, and bid for Aislabeck Plantation, a 55-acre plot at the top of Hurgill Road. It was to be the start of a new-found devotion to rearing prize-winning sheep, a costly and all-consuming hobby.

Then in stepped Simon, the middle of the three sons. Also an artist, and by his own admittance the most romantic of the family, he opted for the good life, farming the land without pesticides or fertilisers yet unable to make even the smallest living. Reluctant to sell, he and his mother eventually agreed to rent out the land leaving Simon despondent that the 40 species of bird and over 100 examples of flora and fauna he'd recorded over the years might come under threat.

Matthew, meanwhile, a director of his own international property company, and Richard, a surveyor, both saw a business opportunity not to be missed. The challenge was clear: to find a scheme that would keep the land in the family name and generate revenue without compromising their brother's 'green' ideals.

The result - an application to build 18 "alternative" wooden holiday lodges, occupying three of the 24 hectares - goes before Richmondshire District Council's planning committee on February 4. Councillors will make a site visit on January 31, while Matthew is working hard to gain support from the business and tourism community.

"This is no fly-by-night scheme and I knew from day one that in order to succeed the ecological value of the site had to be enhanced, not destroyed," he said. "I wanted to base the business on a community-minded spirit and ecologically-sound ideals. It has worked before. Look at The Body Shop. There is nothing new, or suspect, about what we are trying to achieve."

If successful, the lodges will be built from sustainable spruce with Dales' wool used as insulation. The site is up to 800 ft above sea level, so solar energy will be backed up by stoves burning recycled wood-chip. The company has sourced a sophisticated heating system that will utilise solar energy only when the weather permits thereby saving on solar batteries.

The lodges are designed to make the most of natural ventilation and light, while, subject to planning permission, a natural reed-bed sewage system will be installed. A disused covered reservoir on the site, said to have served Richmond market place since the 1500s, will be re-opened to provide sufficient drinking water for the lodges.

Meanwhile, the remaining 21 hectares will be preserved and managed as a wildlife area. English Nature and Yorkshire Wildlife Trust have supported the idea in principle and have agreed to contribute to a 10-year land management plan for the site.

The land is currently home to a badger sett, pipistrelle bats, and roe deer. Observation hides already in place are likely to be made available for limited public use, while the family has also pledged to forbid dogs on site and create a public footpath around the edge of the wildlife area - allowing walkers and conservationists access to previously private land.

Pam Whittaker, tourism officer in charge of Richmond Tourist Information Centre has endorsed the scheme, as has the Yorkshire Tourist Board and Richmond Business and Tourism Association.

To date, the Council for Protection of Rural England and three local residents have raised concerns. The CPRE is concerned over visibility and "landscape value" which has prompted Ecobuild to commission high-tech photo digital montages of the site showing the lodges built to scale in all seasons. Matthew, due to meet with representatives from the CPRE today, argues that the lodges are to be built in a wooded valley barely seen from the road.

Meanwhile, a family living at the top end of Westfields has said the site is too small to accommodate the number of visitors and that building should not be allowed in such close proximity to an active badger sett. One family member, an applied ecologist, questions whether the scheme is in fact ecologically sound.

In response, Ecobuild argues that any negative impact on the existing ecology will be outweighed by the longer-term positive benefits on both the environment and local economy. An independent survey carried out by Richmond-based Environmental Advice Centre has shown that the development will not have an adverse effect on the ecology of the site.

"I understand the concerns of these few residents and of course there is a downside," Matthew admitted.

"You can't build holiday accommodation for 18 lodges without it causing damage to existing species. But we have to see the bigger picture. Planning policy states that quality small-scale holiday developments are the way forward for the local economy.

"You either accept this change and move with it, making the best possible wildlife management decisions, or you resist it, in which case it will happen anyway and probably less sensitively.

"The positive benefits far outweigh the negatives. We would not have invested £60,000 in our case had we believed otherwise