PLANS to create five further letting rooms in a former barn in the centre of Hetton remains undecided after the application was deferred for a second time.

Members of the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority's planning committee voted in favour of officers discussing the plans with the applicants again after concerns were raised over the proposed residential unit and a storage shed which would be so close to a livestock barn it would completely stop any ventilation for livestock.

Concerns were also raised about parking and the possibility of further cars being parked on the highway and that parking spaces did not take account of staff vehicles.

The application relates to Fell View Barn, a traditional former barn in the centre of Hetton and across the road from The Angel Inn. Fell View Barn currently accommodates five en-suite letting bedrooms as an annex to The Angle Inn and a wine cellar serving the Inn.

The proposal is to extend Fell View Barn to the rear and reconfigure the former barn to form a total of 10 hotel suites to remain ancillary to The Angel Inn. In addition to the five existing suites, two additional suites will be created within the existing building and a further three within the proposed extension. A new storage building is proposed along the western boundary of the rear courtyard. The courtyard, currently a car park of 17 spaces, would be retained to create 13 parking spaces and garden areas. To the front the existing car park/garden, currently six spaces, would be reconfigured to form 11 spaces.

North Yorkshire County councillor Robert Heseltine said he was against the plans as they stood: "This application is anti-social and disruptive to the quiet living of Hetton residents. The plan will significantly exacerbate this already unacceptable dominance," he said. He pointed out that planning officers would never support a substantial livestock barn being built that close to a residential unit. And he was concerned about a new 1.9m high stone wall being built 150mm from the barn.

Cllr Heseltine reported that there had been a professional survey of the parking situation in the village which had concluded that the proposals would cause a danger to both drivers and pedestrians in Hetton. He said that North Yorkshire County Highways had not carried out 'due diligence on the critical parking proposals and had accepted on face value the provisions by the applicants'.