A mountain of earth which has appeared as part of the construction of a Penrith housing development has upset residents living nearby — but there have been no proven breaches of planning regulations, said Eden Council.
Persimmon Homes is building 229 new homes as part of its Pennyhill Vale development, on land at Raiselands Farm, Scotland Road.
The site is overlooked by Pauline Scott’s home at Pennyhill Park. She has raised a number of concerns about the development with district and county councils and the Environment Agency, as well as directly with the housebuilder.
“Out the back we have got a seven metre high mountain of soil,” Mrs Scott told the Herald. “It is also the aesthetic value of (the site for people) coming into town. It is awful for visitors coming in. It just looks like a rubbish dump,” she added.
As well as the “mountain of soil”, Mrs Scott has also been concerned by a newsletter from Patricia Bell and Mark Rudhall, introducing themselves as Liberal Democrat councillors for the new Westmorland and Furness unitary council.
In the letter to residents, which has been seen by the Herald, the councillors state that the building work itself was held up by the UK-wide issue of nutrient neutrality – rules to prevent pollutants getting into streams and rivers from building projects.
However, Persimmon has confirmed that as the site received planning permission in 2017, it was not subject to these more recent rules.
A spokesman for Eden Council, prior to it being dissolved, said: “The council’s planning team are in regular contact with Persimmon, the site developer, as well as the relevant locally elected members, residents and colleagues at Cumbria County Council.
“Any concerns raised have been relayed to the developer and their contractor, Metcalfe’s, and meetings between Eden’s planning officers and the developer have been held to address those concerns.
“It’s hoped that a further meeting will soon be held with residents, at which any outstanding concerns will be considered and addressed by the developer, directly.
“Eden Council planning officers have monitored and visited the site on many occasions. The most recent visit was made with a regional Persimmon engineering manager to address a range of issues including, the wheel wash operation for contractor vehicles on the site, road cleaning, signage and the transportation of soils on site.
“There have been no proven breaches of planning regulations and as such no formal actions have been taken. The number of vehicles bringing soils to the site is in compliance with the construction method statement (65 per day), appropriate signage is in place and a road sweeper is attending the site at least once a day.
“Any other issues raised have not been planning-related and therefore fall outside the authority of the council’s planning team. However, referrals and advice have been provided to the appropriate parties regarding these matters.”
A Persimmon spokesman said: “Pennyhill Vale will provide 229 quality new homes including 68 to be transferred to a housing association partner. All works being undertaken are in accordance with the relevant planning approvals granted by Eden District Council.
“This site received planning permission in 2017 … the site is not impacted by recently introduced nutrient neutrality regulations.
“We work closely with the relevant teams at the local authority to ensure that the agreed construction management plan is being adhered to — this includes the number of lorries entering and exiting the site.
“The layout and levels of the development have been approved by the council and construction is taking place in accordance with the approved designs. Letters have been circulated locally during the initial stages of development to update residents and we are happy to meet local councillors to brief them as work progresses.”
