Penrith town councillors are objecting to planning approval being granted for an “enormous glass-fronted house” which would be able to power electric vehicles.
John and Alexis Pallister are seeking permission from Eden Council for the construction of a large house, isolated in open countryside, on land off Salkeld Road, a meeting of the town council’s planning committee was told.
A report accompanying the planning application states that the Pallisters’ Quadrant House proposal had been designed with the declared climate crisis in mind and will not only be energy efficient, but will be energy positive through the careful design and adoption of technologies such as wind, solar, batteries and ground source heating.
“Uniquely, the proposal will not only provide more energy than it uses, but it will also provide the energy used by the vehicles that the owners will use,” the statement says.
The brief for the proposal was to provide a family home from which the applicants can also work. This work, through Pallister Co Ltd, supports many Eden based developers who find it hard to raise development finance from traditional banks.
Over £14m has been loaned over the last nine years with 85 per cent going to fund schemes in Eden and Carlisle.
Comprising two hectares of pasture land, with a boundary with the adjoining Penrith golf course, the site lies on the Penrith Sandstone ridge off Salkeld Road.
It lies next to the Beacon Plantation which dominates the wider views of Penrith and its surroundings.
The proposal is intended to be determined as an exception to Eden Council’s local plan policies which seek to avoid new isolated dwellings in the countryside.
“This proposal is considered to follow the highest standards of architectural design and will be both outstanding and innovative, providing an exemplar for carbon positive living in the local rural area,” the planning statement adds.
Eden Heritage, archaeology and heritage services, was asked to prepare a geophysical survey, which found that the land had not been intensively utilised in the past other than for agriculture, with very limited evidence for archaeological features.
Town councillor Charlie Shepherd said: “It’s an enormous glass fronted house. It would be a lovely place to live, except in the winter, but it’s outside any form of the town.
“I think it’s a totally unsuitable place for a property of any sort. I understand it’s a state-of-the-art and highly environmentally friendly property, but couldn’t it be somewhere more generally acceptable?
“I don’t think it is the right place for that house.”
It was agreed that a town council objection to the planning application be lodged with Eden District Council.
