A public body’s controversial proposal to transform its grade II listed headquarters into luxury open market properties should be approved, planning officers have recommended.

The North York Moors National Park Authority’s ambition to redevelop The Old Vicarage in Helmsley will be considered on Thursday (September 5) following residents running a concerted campaign opposing the move which would help fund a move to a purpose-built base off Riccall Drive.

Even if the proposal is approved, the authority’s members, who are councillors and government appointees, are yet to decide if the business case to relocate stacks up.

The proposal has met with most opposition over concerns the popular route through the premises which has been used by residents for decades to access key services on Bondgate could be closed by developers, alongside criticisms that the scheme does not feature any much-needed affordable housing.

While the proposed scheme is for five homes, the authority’s planning rules stipulate developers only need to create affordable homes where at least six homes are built.

In a letter to the authority, one objector said: “Young people who work in the national park cannot afford to live in the area, if The Old Vicarage has to be redeveloped shouldn’t it be low cost housing for local families, not high end flats for second homes or holiday lets?”

The authority, which has a main purpose to protect the national park’s heritage, has also been accused of “hyprocisy” for seeking to sell the property to avoid renovation costs and of pursuing a “vanity project”.

Ahead of the meeting residents have lodged an application with North Yorkshire Council to protect the popular route by designating it a public right of way.

A report by the authority’s officers to its planning committee reveals the proposal now includes a condition that a pedestrian route through the site must be provided within the existing access area after development and maintained at all times afterwards.

The report states the proposal follows the Covid 19 pandemic, and subsequent changes to the authority’s approaches to hybrid working and requirements for a more flexible office space than the historic building’s small rooms allow.

It states: “This means that the authority no longer has a viable purpose for the heritage asset of which they are currently custodians. As the Old Vicarage no longer meets the requirements of modern officing, it is considered most suitable to convert the grade II listed building back into residential use.”

Responding to criticisms, senior officers said to create more than five homes in the development the listed property would have to be sub-divided, that the authority had a duty to maximise profits from its assets and planning rules meant a developer would not have to provide affordable housing.