Plans to build a development with 160 homes, restaurant and business units have been revealed for South Lakeland.
Fox Development Services (Sandside) wants to create the extensive project on a brownfield site at Park Road and Quarry Lane, Sandside, near Milnthorpe.
It would feature houses and flats, a bar-restaurant-café and a total of six live/work units, which combine both living accommodation and working facilities and a planning application has been lodged with South Lakeland District Council.
A viability assessment submitted as part of the application says the 30,900 sq metre site earmarked for development currently contains a builders’ merchant, caravan storage and a car showroom/MOT yard. The plan would involve the demolition of all buildings.
The residential aspect of the development would consist of 18 one-bed flats, 87 two-bed flats, 18 three-bed flats, three four-bed flats, 20 two-bed houses, 13 three-bed houses, and one four-bed house.
It gives reasons for the scheme only containing five per cent housing classified as affordable – well below the district council’s stipulation of 50 per cent for an area of outstanding natural beauty.
“Primarily because of the relatively high costs of building the scheme in this challenging location, the scheme is only able to deliver a modest affordable housing contribution,” says a viability assessment.
“The scheme will, however, bring back into fully productive use an area of land that is currently of visual poor quality and is underutilised, whilst delivering a high-quality, design-led development in a prominent part of the district.”
A number of objections have alreafy been lodged with the authority.
Roger N Cartwright, of Lindeth Road in nearby Silverdale, said: “It is an excessive and unnecessary new development more suited to an urban seaside resort than a prominent, relatively unspoilt situation alongside the beautiful Kent Estuary in a supposedly protected national landscape.”
Mr Cartwright describes the height and mass of the buildings as too high and large-scale.
“Well-designed, new, small-scale commercial development or other, appropriate non-housing use, in scale with the surroundings and including appropriate landscape design and planting, could significantly improve this local eyesore,” he said. “The whole development is extremely visible from this quiet public lane [Quarry Lane].”
C Hutchings, of Sandside, said in her representation: “I have serious concerns about the impact and road safety of this much additional traffic and access for 300-plus occupancy.”
