Plans for 37 homes on Allithwaite edge rejected

Plans to build 37 homes on the edge of a village have been rejected by councillors.

L&W Wilson (Higham) Ltd had wanted to build the new estate at Allithwaite near Grange-over-Sands, Cumbria.

But South Lakeland District Council rejected the scheme saying the houses would not have been of "particularly high quality" and some would have encroached on open countryside.

Multiple objectors cited a list of complaints about the plan.

The council received 27 representations from members of the public with issues raised over parking, increased traffic and an inability for the village to cope with all the new homes, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

The site, situated off Locker Lane and the B5277, would have been made up of a mixture of one, two, three and four-bedroom homes, 13 of which would have been classed as affordable.

To the south, it would have wrapped around a cluster of existing buildings, including Barn Hey and Barn Hey Cottage, which are Grade II-listed.

Planning officer Liz Arnold recommended the application be refused saying some of the homes would have been built on open countryside and there was "no evidence for their need".

Ms Arnold also said the properties were "not considered to be of a particularly high quality", offered "little in the way of architectural interest or identity" and lacked "any real sense of place".

She referred to the "overbearing impact" of the development on heritage assets and its "unacceptable impact" on landscape character.

The planning committee heard a new, late application had been submitted prior to the meeting but it had "not really dealt with the reasons for refusal" in the opinion of planning officers.

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