A controversial planning application to expand a thriving business centre close to Threlkeld Quarry looks set to get the go-ahead.
Members of the Lake District National Park Authority’s development control committee are being recommended to approve, at their meeting on Wednesday (July 3), a plan to create a further 18 workshop units housed in two new buildings on land to the rear of the Blencathra Business Centre.
The development will add to 23 independent light industrial units, for which planning permission was obtained in 1988, which are already located adjacent to the former Cockermouth, Keswick and Penrith Railway line. The two new buildings will have mono-pitched roofs, clerestory glazing and profile metal walls with large solar panel arrays on all three roof pitches.
Committee members will hear that the authority has received “a substantial number” of objections, including nine from nearby households, and a petition from local residents. St John’s Castlerigg & Wythburn Parish Council supports the proposal on the grounds of it being an additional employment site that will create local jobs.
Among the reasons for objection from local residents is that the existing access road is a no-through unadopted road with no pavements and a 20mph speed limit which is currently not adhered to.
They say that an increase of 18 units will mean far more than 18 additional cars and delivery vehicles making several trips a day adding to wear and tear damage on the road. The residents also claim that the scale of the development would be “overbearing” and parking was insufficient for the proposed units and will lead to overspill beyond the site. There are also concerns about the impact on the red squirrel and bat populations.
The LDNPA recognises that the condition of the Threlkeld Quarry Road from the junction with the B5322 into Threlkeld Quarry, and along to the existing business units, is in a poor condition, which is a significant concern for the residents and likely poses safety risks. But the meeting will hear that the applicant has provided a unilateral undertaking which would more than double their annual contribution to the maintenance of the road which would be enforceable as part of any planning permission.
The local residents want the road to be adopted by Cumberland Council, and would like to think that this planning application could be a catalyst to moving this matter forward, with the developer being required to undertake some works to make the highway nearer an adoptable standard.
The planning officer says in his report that the application site is a considerable distance from neighbours and the proposed buildings have been designed appropriately given their landscape context and purpose. He adds that the applicant has conducted a preliminary ecological appraisal and Based on the lack of trees on the site, and the maturity of trees surrounding the site, it concludes that there would be no impact on bats or squirrels.
