Sir, – The Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority does a disservice to the residents and visitors of the national park when it grants permission for the attachment to the 17th century Grade II-listed Foresters Arms, Carlton in Coverdale, of an external kitchen extraction flue.

The national park itself describes this flue as being an incongruous addition to the building, which detracts from its architectural character, the size and scale of which is incompatible with the appearance of the building, and which is utilitarian in nature and at odds with the reserved detailing of the building (‘Gritted teeth deal for Dales community pub’).

This flue was not the only option available to the national park planning department and the members of the planning committee.

The Foresters Arms has had a commercial kitchen since the 1990s and all the equipment which is now attached to the outside of the Foresters Arms was previously housed internally and out of sight within the covered yard of the building.

The senior listed building officer, who opposed the application, urged the Coverdale Community Pub to reposition the flue in this manner. This would involve the advice of a heritage architect and engineer familiar with the methods of incorporating services into listed buildings, but the Coverdale Community Pub refused to investigate the alternative.

At the hearing of the application, some members of the planning committee suggested that they were in need of technical assistance on the application, but the request was effectively vetoed by the chairman of the meeting who held the casting vote.

It is the role of the national park authority to protect buildings of special architectural or historic interest, of which The Foresters Arms is one. Undoubtedly we have the skills and expertise to do so. It appears that we do not have the aspirations to do so.

Finally, and to put the costs into perspective, it will cost each member of the Coverdale Community Pub the equivalent of a drink and a starter or a pudding to pay for the installation of a new flue. But I will not be holding my breath.

JOHN HALL Carlton, Leyburn.