Controversial proposals for a major leisure development on wetlands close to the Yorkshire Dales National Park boundary could have a devastating impact on important winter feeding grounds supporting large numbers of wading birds.
Executive director of Friends of the Dales, Ann Shadrake finds hope in new legislation that will oblige planners to consider the special qualities of protected landscapes. You can read what she had to say about it here and in the latest issue of our membership magazine, Yorkshire Dales Review:
Hellifield Flashes is a set of fields to the north of Hellifield alongside the A65, grazed by livestock, crossed by a public right of way, and looking ordinary for most of the year.
Yet, during winter months, rain and run-off collects naturally in two depressions creating the ephemeral pools, or flashes, of Great Dunbar and Little Dunbar. These large, shallow, temporary ponds attract extraordinary numbers of ducks and wading birds – many red listed due to their vulnerability. Shoveler, teal, wigeon, redshank, curlew, black-headed gull and black-tailed godwit can all be found resting, sleeping and washing in the pools as mixed flocks. Waders plunge their long bills into the soggy grassland, hunting for hidden earthworms and insect pupae, whilst ducks graze on the succulent grass.
Extraordinary views of this wildlife spectacular are available to those walking on the footpath and, importantly, keeping their dogs close by. Meander off the path or allow your dog to run free and hundreds of birds will panic as one, expending precious calories as they catapult into the sky.
My favourite ‘ultra waders’, black-tailed godwits, fly in their thousands from frozen Iceland to winter on our fields, lagoons and shorelines. They need quiet, undisturbed feeding time to lay down fat reserves to fuel the return trip to breed in the arctic summer. Decades of observations by local ornithological clubs and regular monthly surveys by British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) volunteers underline the critical value of Hellifield Flashes beyond doubt.
Unfortunately, the site has no legal protection despite being intrinsically linked with the larger protected wetlands of nearby Long Preston Deeps Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), a fact which has left Hellifield Flashes open to decades of speculative and ill-judged planning applications and an outdated designation as a tourism development site in the Local Plan.
In March 2019, a concerted effort by Friends of the Dales and local and national campaigners persuaded planners at Craven District Council (CDC) to refuse a proposal to build 300 holiday chalets on the site.
Despite that refusal, the applicant waited barely a year before submitting an almost identical planning application for a smaller number (99) of lodges. Then in April 2023, responsibility for planning passed from CDC to the newly set up North Yorkshire Council and now the whole sorry merry-go-round of due process through the planning system continues to stutter on.
The latest proposal – a reduction to 73 lodges – is still entirely inappropriate*. This massive building project and the subsequent pressure from thousands of cars, people and dogs every year will entirely destroy the site’s value as a precious winter wildlife haven.
Of wider consideration is the critical location of Hellifield Flashes on the edge – or ‘setting’ – of the Yorkshire Dales. This should bring special consideration of the impact on the national park itself, but we see little evidence that this has been fully evaluated.
Following a brilliant campaign by Campaign for National Parks (CNP), an amendment was successfully added to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Act (LURA) 2023. This s245 clause brings a very clear obligation upon public bodies and planning authorities to consider the protection of national parks. As a result, NYC must now fully consider how the proposals at Hellifield Flashes will or will not further the statutory purposes of the national park. Broadly speaking these are conservation (purpose 1) and public enjoyment (purpose 2) of the special qualities of the national park. If there is conflict between them, greater weight must be given to the conservation purpose. This balancing in favour of conservation is called the Sandford Principle.
Perhaps this tiny, yet critical shift in legislation might be the key to lock the door for good on the damaging proposals at Hellifield Flashes.
In my view we cannot ignore the value of the tiny scraps of nature-filled land within or close to our national parks. We must not sacrifice these wet and wild places to the supposed saviour of development and economic growth. These overlooked remnants of wet and wild places are actually critical backstops against the twin existential threats facing our national parks – climate breakdown and biodiversity loss. We believe now is the right time for NYC to shift the future for Hellifield Flashes away from tourism development and towards nature and people. Maybe it’s also time for us to stand up for the waders and ducks of Hellifield Flashes as much as the infamously derided ‘bats and newts’.
You can view the whole of the spring issue of Yorkshire Dales Review here:
*To view our detailed objections, see our website or the NYC planning portal (application ref C2020/21553/OUT) or email ann.shadrake@friendsofthedales.org.uk for a copy.