The Eden Local Area Planning Committee are scheduled to consider three planning applications, receive an update on recent appeal decisions and consider any urgent items. This is a summary of the matters due to be considered and does not reflect what was discussed or decided at the meeting.

Land North of Raiselands Farm, Penrith

The Committee is scheduled to consider an outline application for residential development at Land North of Raiselands Farm, Penrith. The application, submitted by Atkinson Homes Ltd., is for the development of a 2.34 hectare site adjacent to the Persimmon Homes development already underway to the south.

The application has been recommended for refusal on seven grounds. Firstly, insufficient information has been submitted to show that a safe form of access suitable for vehicles, pedestrians and cyclists can be provided from the A6. In particular, the Cumbria County Council Local Cycling and Walking Infrastructure Plan (LCWIP) proposes the delivery of a new shared cycle and pedestrian route, Route 8, along the A6 past the application site but the application as submitted does not include provision for this. In addition to this matter, Highways Officers are also concerned with the details that have been provided for the provision of a right turn junction into a neighbouring site on the north eastern side of the A6.

Secondly, insufficient information has been provided to show how surface water from the site will be managed and that the nearby West Coast Mainline will not be affected by flooding. A number of options were explored in a Flood Risk Assessment and Foul & Surface water Drainage Strategy undertaken by Atkinson Building Contractors Ltd. dated June 2023 but Westmorland and Furness Council as the Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) do not consider any of these options to be deliverable or viable.

Thirdly, insufficient information has been provided to show that people living in the new houses will not be subject to unacceptable levels of noise from the A6, M6 and West Coast Mainline.

Fourthly, no contribution has been offered towards secondary education provision for future residents of the site. A contribution of £327,840 to support 12 secondary school places has been requested by the Council's Education Department.

Finally, no finalised scheme for delivering Nutrient Neutrality (NN) has been submitted with the application.

Although the application is recommended for refusal, Penrith Town Council has chosen to support the proposal. They are pleased that the application is for affordable housing with the potential for some of the houses to be bungalows and that the development is proposed to be fully sustainable, highly insulated and energy efficient. In particular they are pleased with the suggestions that the development will be provided with Electric Vehicle (EV) charging points and Photovoltaic (PV) panels. The Council though has highlighted that there are concerns with the capacity of Penrith's infrastructure to support the level of development proposed including the effect on school places and NHS services and in particular that the contribution to secondary school places may not fully meet the needs of the development.

Creation of haulage yard with associated workshop, vehicle wash area, parking, package treatment plant, landscaping and access at Crossfield Farm, Bowscar

This application submitted by W K Stalker & Son Limited seeks to create a haulage yard with associated buildings including a workshop, vehicle wash area, package treatment plant and associated landscaping. The site would be secured by a 2.6m high wire mesh fence and access would be taken off the A6 close to Stoneybeck Roundabout.

The application has been recommended for approval subject to a number of conditions. These include details on the provision of landscaping for the site, the installation of the package treatment plant, provision of parking and how surface water will be managed.

Penrith Town Council has objected to the application on five grounds.

i. The proposed development is on a greenfield site and not allocated within the Eden Local Plan for any sort of development and it is therefore assumed that it was proposed to be retained for agricultural land. It is not in compliance with the approved Local Plan with no overriding material considerations.

ii. The area in question is 1.8 miles from the outskirts of Penrith so not adjacent to the town. It is open and rural in nature with only a few agricultural or residential (live/work) developments within the immediate area. The site has no easy walking or cycling links to Penrith. The development would cause harm to the local amenity through the loss of open farmland as it sits in a highly visible position on a major route into town with views beyond to the Lake District fells.

iii. Policy EC3 of the Eden Local Plan states that employment development within and adjacent to existing settlements will be permitted when four criteria are met. ie Development is of a scale, type and design sympathetic to the location within which it is proposed Development would not have an unacceptable impact on highways or other forms of infrastructure Development would not cause harm to local amenity, landscape, ecology, historic environment or other environmental and cultural heritage considerations The development is capable of achieving appropriate standards of access, servicing, parking and amenity space. The building itself is large 24m x 16m x 12m high structure between the existing farm buildings and the road. The proposal is to surround it with a earth bank and planting inside a 1.8m high security fence. Penrith Town Council believes that given the location, the development introduces a large and incongruous development which is of a scale that is unsympathetic to this rural greenfield site and would cause harm to the local amenity and landscape to this area of open countryside therefor going against policies EC3 and ENV2 (Protection and enhancement of landscape and trees) of the Eden Local Plan.

iv. This is the relocation of an existing business that says that their current yard is inefficient for business and provides no room for expansion. They state that they have a 'good relationship with neighbours although there is always potential for this to be problematic in the future'. Within the adopted Eden Local Plan, land is allocated in Policy PEN1 for employment purposes as an extension to Gilwilly Business Park and at Skirsgill. Longer term strategic growth is identified at Newton Rigg College which is no longer an educational facility. This is a departure from the current adopted Eden Local Plan and, if approved, would set a precedent for large scale development in the open countryside.

v. As a new development in the open countryside it is likely that for security reasons that security lighting is also required. Such lighting would go against Policy ENV9 of the Eden Local Plan as any additional lighting in this area would adversely impact the wider landscape.

Variation of condition 1 (hours of operation), to allow for 1no night time delivery between 11pm and 2am, attached to approval 01/0072 at Unit 5 Newtongate Depot, Newton Road, Penrith

The Committee are scheduled to consider an application from Ms Deborah Goodland of Walton Goodland to vary Condition 1 (hours of operation) of planning permission 01/0072 to allow for one night time delivery between the hours of 11pm and 2am. The application is retrospective in that the application form states that the proposal is for the ‘continued operation’ of the site and supporting information confirms that one night time delivery has been taking place since 2017 when the current tenants, Fresh Food For Now Company, moved into the unit.

This application is being reported to Committee as Penrith Town Council has objected to the proposal. They are of the view that

The previous hours of operation of the site of 7.30am to 7.00pm Monday to Saturday and not on Sundays and Bank Holidays were in the interests of local amenity as two properties may be affected. Nothing has changed and this condition is still appropriate.

The application is recommended for approval subject to conditions. A noise assessment has been carried out to assess the potential for noise nuisance for neighbouring properties and it has been concluded that

The night time delivery would not result in such a noise impact which would exacerbate existing relationships.

It is proposed that Condition 1 of the planning permission be amended to read:

All other units present within the site, with the exception of Unit 5 shall operate between the hours of 07:30 to 19:00 Mondays to Saturdays and not at all on Sundays and Bank Holidays.

A further condition is proposed to be added that would state:

Unit 5 shall be permitted 1 delivery during the hours of 23:00 to 02:00. This delivery shall be unloaded by the means of a manual pallet truck only and in full accordance with the Noise Assessment Report by RS Acoustics dated 30 April 2024.

Update on Appeal Decisions

The committee are scheduled to be provided with an update on the outcome of two planning appeals relating to applications for residential development at Land between East Larches and Lynwood, Beacon Edge, Penrith:

• Application 23/0756 which was an outline application for a dwelling.
• Application 2023/1058/FPA which was an outline application for residential development for up to five dwellings.

Both applications had been refused by the Council on 18 March 2024 but were subsequently appealed to the Planning Inspectorate. Following a site visit on 7 October 2024, the Inspector David Reed BSc DipTP DMS MRTPI dismissed both appeals on 26 November 2024.

Urgent Items

The committee will also consider any urgent business.