A range of options to secure the future of a 17th Century North Yorkshire stately home should be welcomed, according to a conservation expert.

David Rhodes, conservation and design manager of Harrogate Borough Council, is asking councillors to back options for the Grade II listed Grantley Hall, near Ripon, when members of an area planning committee meet on Tuesday next week.

The borough council has been consulted on the hall's future by its owners, North Yorkshire County Council.

The hall, which stands in 30 acres of grounds alongside the River Skell, is used as a conference, training and community course centre.

It is also used for social events and has been licensed to host weddings.

But the county council believes that the present use of the hall is uneconomic, that the building needs major maintenance and that the present facilities are outdated.

Mr Rhodes said Grantley Hall was an important building in the Nidderdale Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Long-term potential uses include use as a hotel, residential nursing home, offices, rural enterprise centre, and conference training centre.

Government policy means that a private housing development "would not be acceptable".

Mr Rhodes said several other great estates within the district have successfully adapated to changing circumstances.

He cited hotels created at Rudding Park, Harrogate; Nidd Hall, near Harrogate; and Swinton Castle, Masham - all successfully undergoing major changes.

Newby Hall, near Ripon, and Ripley Castle, near Harrogate, have opened to the public and become major tourist attractions.

Grantley Hall, which is close to Fountains Abbey and Studley Royal, was previously owned by the former West Riding County Council.

It was passed to North Yorkshire on local government reorganisation in 1974.

Grantley Hall was once the home of the first Lord Furness.