Controversial plans for a new hotel in the Lake District has prompted a campaign group to raise questions over its development.
Save Windermere, which wants greater protection for the lake from sewage spills, has written to the Lake District National Park Authority about the development of Pearsall House at Far Sawrey, near Ambleside.
Plans to turn the building, on the western shore of Windermere, into an 18-bedroom hotel by Mikhail Hotel and Leisure Group were approved in October, but had to go back to the drawing board in April after a change of circumstance at the site.
The proposals are still being considered by the authority.
Now, Matt Staniek, founder of Save Windermere has written to the authority about the planning application. While he said he and the group were not objecting to the scheme, they were worried that the existing sewer network had capacity for the development.
He said: “Following the final submission by the developer, it is clear that the proposed network capacity will not be sufficient to prevent an increased risk of sewage directly escaping into Windermere.
“Save Windermere argues that without first implementing a sustainable solution to using Ferry House wastewater treatment works as a cesspit, granting consent for this development will compromise the national park’s statutory obligation to preserve and enhance the natural beauty of the Lake District.
“We recommend that the obvious solution is for the authority to instruct that development can occur only if United Utilities is to turn Ferry House wastewater treatment works into a pumping station, which would allow sustainable development in the area without increasing the likelihood of sewage entering the lake at Mitchells Wyke bay.”
Enforcement action
The change of circumstances at the site relates to unauthorised work being carried out at the site in the last four years.
Workers created hard surfaces, excavated and imported material to the site, resulting in damage to trees protected by preservation orders.
The authority took enforcement action against the developer, instructing it to restore the land to its condition prior to the breach by May 2025.
An update by the authority on August 15 said the application will go back before the development control committee for a further decision. No date has yet been set.
How does planning at the Lake District National Park Authority work?
Protecting a national park while also supporting the people who live and work in it is a fine art.
There are over 40,478 people living within the Lake District and with that comes dozens of people looking to improve their businesses, homes and more.
