Sir, - I am writing to express my concern about the misleading front page article in last Friday's D&S, regarding solar panels on a barn conversion within the Yorkshire Dales National Park.

The article alleged that Mrs Simper had been issued with an enforcement notice by the national park authority before she had heard that her appeal to the Planning Inspectorate had been dismissed. It also suggested that the authority had breached its protocols.

This is completely untrue.

The planning committee, at a meeting in December 2006, refused a retrospective planning application from Mrs Simper for the installation of solar panels.

Negotiations failed to resolve the problem and an enforcement notice was consequently served in June 2007.

Mrs Simper appealed to the independent Planning Inspectorate against the enforcement notice, but a planning inspector dismissed her appeal in January 2008 and gave her three months to remove the panels. He concluded that the panels were a "jarring feature" and their benefits in meeting the global warming challenge were outweighed by the harm to the character of the Carperby conservation area.

I would like to assure your readers that the national park authority's policies support renewable energy developments in principle, but we do have to have regard to whether their impact is damaging. In this case it was judged unacceptable and that decision has been vindicated, following an appeal to an independent inspector.

Although Mrs Simper was obliged to remove the panels by April 14 she has not done so.

The authority has been in protracted correspondence with her and with her constituency MP, Linda Riordan, the MP for Halifax, during the summer in the hope of resolving the problem without further formal action.

Mrs Simper has therefore been aware of the need to address this issue for the last two years - and to suggest otherwise is misleading.

I am also concerned that your reporter should publish such an inaccurate account without approaching the authority or the Planning Inspectorate at least to confirm her claims and give us the opportunity to comment.

While it is noted that the D&S did approach an authority member - for a quote, it is apparent that he was also given a misleading version of events.

PETER WATSON Head of Planning, Yorkshire Dales National Park Authority.

Editor's note: our reporter did call Mr Watson's office the morning we went to press. He was not available.