CONTROVERSY surrounding a bid to turn a barn in upper Wensleydale into a home for a local family looks set to continue.

The latest application for Cams Houses, near Hawes, is recommended for refusal when the Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority planning committee meets on Tuesday.

Planners warn against pre-judging the outcome of a public inquiry which will decide whether the hamlet of Cams Houses may be included on the list of settlements where such developments are allowed.

Public anger erupted last year when the authority refused permission for the barn to be turned into a home for a local builder, his partner and their three young children.

The application was twice approved by the planning committee, but was rejected on the advice of the authority monitoring officer when debated a third time.

The development, for rent in perpetuity to the family, would have contravened planning policy which limits residential schemes in the countryside.

David Winspear, a self-employed builder, and his partner, Sharon Spensley, said the family might have to move away from upper Wensleydale because they could not afford property prices.

The controversy led to proposed amendments to the national park local plan to expand the list of settlements where farm buildings may be converted to low-cost homes for local people.

A report to the committee points out that the proposed amendments have attracted objections as well as support and will go before a planning inspector at an inquiry.

Officers say it would be wrong for a planning authority to make a decision based on policy which may or may not come into force.

However, the report hints that, should the amendments be accepted by the inspector, the way could be open for future approval of the conversion.

The committee meets at the Amerdale Hall, Arncliffe, in Littondale, at 10.30.